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ERCtONOMY; 



OR, 



INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE. 



BY 



SAMUEL GALLOV/AY, A. M., 



PROF. MATH. ET NAT. PHIL. 








PRINCETON, N. J. : 
BENJAMIN R. SO UDDER 

ATHENS, Geo. : 

ALEXANDER M. SC UDDER. 

1853. 



hJ^i (o 



r ' 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the yeai- 1853, 

BY SAMUEL GALLOWAY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of South Carolina. 



W. Lord, Printer & Stereotyper, 
183 William Street. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

THE INDUCTION, 5 

THE LABORATORY, ..---- 16 

THE ELABORATOR, 38 

WANTS, 60 

ELABORATION, 80 

CONSUMPTION, ... ----- 106 

TASTE, - -^ 128 

GENIUS, 200 

DIVISIONS, 235 

THE MENSURATION, 290 

THE DISTRIBUTION, 303 

THE FIXALITIES, 332 

THE MAXIMUM, - ... - - 351 



CHAPTER I. 



THE INDUCTION. 



In the nineteenth century of the Christian era, 
civil society is convulsed with pecuniary distress, 
scientific strife, moral disorder, and social delirium. 
These fruits of a highly cultivated age, are well cal- 
culated to excite a lively and most reasonable curios- 
ity. Convulsions occurring in an age adorned with 
science, literature, and religion ; in a country endowed 
with industry, enterprise, and wise institutions, must, 
by every reflecting mind, be regarded as a very singu- 
lar phenomenon in the philosophy of human affairs. 
Such remarkable vicissitudes afford a long series of 
admonitory lessons ; and legislative efforts to improve 
the Divine economy, like the inscriptions of lovers 
upon trees, only serve to perpetuate the remembrance 
of human passions and misfortunes. 

Nature, to a philosophic observer, seems to har- 
monize with absolute benevolence, to design physical 
and social happiness. Everything seems formed for 
everything, and subsists by mutually giving and 
receiving benefits. The extremes of creation are 
brought into the closest vicinity, the seemingly incon- 
gruous elements are blended into the mildest harmony. 



6 ERGONOMY. 

As a benign consistency still pervades the material 
world, pecuniary derangements must result from 
human annoyances. The unconstrained operation of 
the Divine laws, would, like oil upon waves, restore 
these tumultuary occurrences into peaceful tranquillity. 
The Industrial System, if freed from human interrup- 
tions, would proceed with as much regularity as the 
spheres revolving in the firmament. 

The ensuing pages are designed to point out the 
laws of the Industrial System, to unfold a simple, 
useful, and elegant science. Observation is the only 
possible mode of ascertaining the Divine legislation ; 
and a strong impression of this preliminp^ry proposition, 
effectually debars unprofitable speculations, intricate 
reasonings, and fallacious conclusions. 

To define, to classify, to measure, are the three 
successive steps in philosophy. The true interpret- 
er of nature notices particular facts, groups such 
as possess perfect similarity, and points out their 
respective proportions. To free his reasonings from 
every possible embarrassment, he singles out his par- 
ticular fact from the other facts which are irrelevant 
to his particular purpose. Classification, as it " brings 
in" particular facts under general classes, is called 
induction, or the inductive philosophy. Mensuration 
of every kind is nothing more than a comparison of a 
quantity with its measuring unit. The mathematician 
purges his elements from every impurity, classes his 
facts according to an exact resemblance, and compares 
his quantities with absolute certainty. Philosophy, in 
its utmost extension, embraces no more than three 
distinct operations, which, if illustrated by a few 



ERGONOMY. 7 

appropriate examples, will enable us to pass over the 
Industrial System with satisfaction and success. 

1. The first step clears the elementary principle 
from every impurity. Reasoning starts from axioms 
upon which the human mind rests with implicit confi- 
dence. No plurality is conceivable without an elemen- 
tary unit, no compound is possible without constituent 
elements, and no general proposition is supposable 
without particular facts. A number when separated 
from every other attribute of body, suggests the same 
thought to every human mind ; and a line when con- 
sidered as " mere length without breadth or thickness," 
leaves no possibility for error or confusion. The ele- 
mentary principles of nature, the ultimate existences, 
are the particular facts, which, in every science, rise 
up from an unfathomable deep with unadorned simpli- 
city. The loftiest superstructures are built upon the 
lowliest facts. The primary notion, of which propor- 
tions are the mere development, slumbers in the mind 
of the rudest peasant ; and upon notions so seemingly 
trivial, are built the loftiest monuments in modern 
science. Upon the simple basis of gravitation, as an 
elementary fact, JSTewton erected the magnificent su- 
perstructure of modern astronomy. 

2. To classify, the second step in philosophy, is 
nothing more than grouping facts of the same kind 
under distinctive " sorts or species." As the princi- 
ples of nature are classible according to some exact 
resemblance, the observer discriminates, in a great 
number of particulars, that common circumstance in 
which they all agree, and extracts it pure and unmixed, 
from the other superfluous circumstances. As lines 



3 ERGONOMY. 

are classible with lines, surfaces with surfaces, cubes 
with cubes, mathematical inductions cannot be vitiated 
by any possible obscurity. Actions which bear an 
exact resemblance in a single particular, are classible ; 
and science, through comprehensive inductions, is con- 
tinually extending her already extensive domain. A 
falling apple suggested to Newton the sublime concep- 
tion, that the planets had the same gravitative gene- 
rality. An apple and a planet, so dissimilar in other 
particulars, are precisely similar in gravitation, the 
only particular which relates to practical astronomy. 
The science of the philosopher diiFers in degree only, 
not in kind, from the information, which is the fruit 
of the commonest experience. Newton, in classing 
the planets under gravitation, only enlarged his 
views to that universal induction which comprehends 
under it an infinite number of particulars, and includes 
a whole science in a single principle. 

3. To ascertain proportions, is the third step in phi- 
losophy. Newton discovered the proportion of the 
forces of gravitation acting at comparative distances ; 
and the rule of action, the inverse squares, is estab- 
lished by observing, the planetary motions. Gravita- 
tion, acting by this determinate rule, moves an apple 
and a planet, moulds the huge masses of bodies into 
their appointed forms, and governs, through myriads 
of ages, the mighty system composed of myriads of 
worlds. This comprehensive rule, throughout the 
minutest details, so explains the celestial appearances 
that every seeming irregularity becomes a necessary 
result. Composed of system within system, the phy- 



ERGONOMY. 9 

sical universe, " ordered by number and measure," 
moves with beautiful and salutary regularity. 

Measuring, after a unit of comparison is selected, is 
reduced to counting. To measure a quantity is noth- 
ing more than comparing it with some other quantity 
of the same kind, a quantity exhibited to the human 
senses. A measure of length must be length ; a meas- 
ure of superficies must be superficies ; a measure of 
capacity must be capacity. " To measure a quantity," 
is to " fix upon some known quantity of the same spe- 
cies" for a measuring unit, and to determine the pro- 
portionality of the quantity to the measure. Time, a 
definite portion of duration, is measurable by " any in- 
struments or marks w^hich divide it into equal por- 
tions ;" and the geometer selects " some measure of 
this common duration" to estimate planetary motions, 
to ascertain longitude at sea. " Without some fixed 
parts or periods, the order of things would be lost to 
our finite understandings, in the boundless invariable 
oceans of duration and expansion which comprehend 
all finite being, and in their full extent, belong only 
to the Deity." Quantities of every kind are expressible 
by numbers ; the number always expresses " how 
many times the assumed unit of quantity is contained 
in the given quantity." 

The inductive method, as illustrated in the preced- 
ing examples, leads us along the only true road to 
science. A method so successfully used in modern in- 
vestigations, is applicable, with equal success, to In- 
dustrial afi'airs. The philosopher, in this Science, de- 
fines his axiom, classes the elementary facts under a 
universal induction, and determines the numerary 



10 ERGONOMY. 

proportions. To collect particular facts, to assort them 
into appropriate groups, to weave the whole into a con- 
nected system, is the task devolving upon philosophic 
economists. This extensive field, abounding with 
scientific curiosities and moral felicities, presents 
attractions to inductive philosophers and observant 
historians. This extensive range, as in other sci- 
ences, exemplifies the three elementary operations in 
philosophy. 

1. Human labor is the sole elementary axiom. 
Labor, being irresolvable into simpler elements, is a 
clear and comprehensive elementary principle. A 
commodity, a specific body, is nothing more than labor, 
the only contemplated attribute, embodied in a per- 
ceptible form. The astronomer solely considers grav- 
ity ; the economist solely considers labor. In com- 
puting pressures, an engineer leaves out of view the 
freshness and salubrity of fluids ; in calculating 
eclipses, an astronomer does not include the fertility 
and population of planets ; and in estimating elabora- 
tions, an economist excludes from consideration the 
form and beauty of commodities. The notice of ex- 
cluded attributes, though real existences, would only 
confuse the human mind. The exclusion of extraneous 
considerations leaves the elementary axiom in abso- 
lute purity, and enables the student to glide along a 
limpid stream. 

This elementary axiom possesses interesting pecu- 
liarities which augment its perspicuity and impressive- 
ness. Existing materials have no exchangeable pro- 
portions, till men have acquisitions to compare, acquisi- 
tions which require human labor. The first occupant 



E R G N M Y . H 

of any material, being unable to purchase of the Su- 
preme Proprietor, expends labor upon a Divine gra- 
tuity. As no exchangeability can come into play before 
acquisitions are compared, the Industrial attribute is 
distinctly designated from every original attribute 
which inheres in material substances. Exchangeability 
decreases towards the first elaboration where, without 
leaving any residual quantity, it entirely disappears. 
The labor embodied in a commodity is accumulative 
till that commodity comes to the mart for consumption. 
Cotton, the result of the planter's labor, receives an 
accession of labor by its transportation to the English 
manufactory, by its transmutation into cloth, by 
its re-transportation to America. A similar accession 
occurs in elaborating every particular commodity. As 
the Industrial attribute is generated by man, he has 
the acutest experience of its actual existence. Ten 
thousand daily sensations make an indelible impres- 
sion of the labor expended in elaborating commodities. 
Continuous elaboration is necessary for the prolonga- 
tion of man's physical existence, for the development 
of his corporeal powers, mental faculties, and moral 
sensibilities. 

2. Industrial facts from their absolute purity, are 
classible by mathematical resemblances. Equivalent 
commodities exhibit a wide diversity in weight, length, 
superficies, capacity, form, color, and fragrancy ; while, 
on the contrary, inherent labor is the sole attribute of 
coincidence, the only discriminating attribute in the 
" Industrial Science." The similarity of the elements, 
being impressed in human experience, are clearly 
discernible ; and the reasonings, being mathematical 



12 ERGONOAir. 

comparisons, are conductable with as much certainty 
as those in hydraulics or astronomy. A precise 
resemblance in labor suggests a comprehensive induc- 
tion in commodities. The astronomical induction 
was a happy suggestion of an occult attribute of 
matter ; while, on the contrary, the induction of com- 
modities is suggested by daily sensations and reflections 
in conferring the peculiar attribute. While minor dis- 
tinctions are blended into each other's shades in insepa- 
rable complexity, the Deity is pleased to exhibit com- 
prehensive inductions for human use, to hide minor dif- 
ferences from impertinent curiosity. The universal in- 
duction of labor, a useful extension of thought, includes 
a whole science in a single principle; 

3. The third step is to measure human labor. Man, 
in the act of elaborating, obtains an acute perception 
of Industrial proportions, and, with the greatest facil- 
ity measures a quantity which has been conferred by 
his own exertions. Labor, like a line in geometry, is 
an inseparable attribute of body, and, like a longitu- 
dinal quantity, is only calculable by the body in which 
it inheres. As gravity is inseparable from planetary 
bodies, so labor is inseparable from the containing 
substances. Mensuration in astronomy depends on a 
measure of force ; so mensuration of commodities de- 
pends on a measure of labor. A portion of matter is 
assumed as a measure of gravitation ; so a portion of 
elaborated matter is assumed as an Industrial measure. 
The Industrial unit "constitutes the standard or scale 
by which the prices of all things bought or sold are 
ascertained." A portion of silver being assumed as a 
unitj the number of times that portion is exchangeable 



ERGONOMY. 13 

for any given commodity, is the measure of that given 
commodity. 

After a unit is fixed, commodities are exchanged 
solely by arithmetic. Children distinguish simple 
proportions, and the proportionality of commodities is 
fixed on the human mind with absolute clearness. 
The proportionality of gravitation at comparative dis- 
tances, a proportionality of secondary utility, is within 
the range only of highly cultivated minds ; while, on the 
contrary, the proportionality of labor, a proportionality 
applicable to life and morals, is perfectly familiar to a 
child in the nursery. As the proportionulity of labor 
is so important in human affairs, no intricate propor- 
tions were admitted into the Industrial economy. 
These problems do not require a solution by the com- 
plicated proportions of squares or cubes, by the ab- 
struse properties of ellipses or parabolas. As few 
minds are adequate for recondite mensuration, the 
Deity has been pleased, in the Industrial System, to 
work solely by simple multiples. From its beautiful 
simplicity, the proportionality is comprehensible by 
the feeblest as w^ell as by the most cultivated under- 
standing. 

Industrial facts being delivered with mathematical 
solemnity, require a mathematical language. Every 
science has its peculiar nomenclature for its leading 
principles ; and technical terms, being selected from 
the dead languages, are not liable to change by popu- 
lar usage. As these terms are used in a precise sense, 
the mind preserves a pure conception of their distinct- 
ive meanings. Ergonomy is derived from two Greek 



14 ERGO NO MY- 

wordSj and means the law of labor. It is a term whicn 
is unincumbered with an impure usage. 

Industrial Science requires only a single axiom, only 
one specific induction, and only one simple proportion- 
ality. It has a most impressive axiom, a most luminous 
induction, and a most elegant simplicity. From a single 
axiom arises a choice collection of interesting develop- 
ments ; and these shifting scenes afford the most strik- 
ing facts in human history, facts which excite lively 
emotions in ever}'' inquisitive mind. The variety of 
facts possessing a strict unit}/, prevents the repetition 
of a uniform narrative ; and by employing general 
propositions, the human mind comprehends in a few 
theorems, a great number of inferences and conclusions. 
As the science of labor is a vast collection of facts, the 
economist only retains the more striking results, and 
drops all minuter circumstances which are only inter- 
esting to particular pursuits. In these comprehensive 
inductions, the natural connection is unbroken by 
hasty transitions, and no minute accumulation of cir- 
cumstances can destroy " the light and effect of those 
general pictures, which compose the use and ornament" 
of the Industrial economy. To restrain the wanderings 
of the fancy, the economist must look to the Industrial 
axiom, with as much singleness of purpose as the faith- 
ftil Mohammedan at Fez or Delhi turns his face to- 
wards the temple at INiecca. 

A beautiful simplicity runs through the sciences 
which affect human life and social manners. To effect 
a variety of purposes by a single principle, is charac- 
teristic of Deity. The law of labor, like that of gravi- 
tation in astronomy, explains all the Industrial appear- 



ERGONOMY. 15 

ances in their minutest details, and inspires the cold- 
est natures with reverential sentiments. The several 
departments, being conductible by the inductive mode, 
are investigated by the same philosophic principles. 
The physical world, which still maintains its original 
affinities and proportions, affords a permanent basis for 
the moral sciences. The investigation of the physical 
laws, paves the way for the moral departments, which 
complete the harmonious superstructure. 

To enrich the subject, to relieve the severity of 
thought, to entertain the reader, the leading principles 
are interspersed with variegated examples. As these 
examples are introduced merely as illustrations, particu- 
lar reference to their original sources, is deemed un- 
necessary. The author, once for all, acknowledges his 
indebtedness to a wide circle of ancient and modern 
literature. The volume, as it treats of a science appli- 
cable to every nation, is designed for popular reading 
as well as for recondite study. The work, the first of 
a series, is committed to a generous, indulgent, and en- 
lightened community. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE LABORATORY. 



Material substances are tlie substratum for human 
labor. The materials are formed into curious struc- 
tures, arranged into symmetrical figures, or cast into 
heaps of rude magnificence. The earth, the grand 
laboratory, contains the materials of the several king- 
doms of nature, a mixture of the dullest with the most 
resplendent substances. Nature, in her active labo- 
ratory, is continually working up the rude materials, 
and her frugal economy makes one set of materials 
perform many purposes. Specific materials are run- 
ning through the several kingdoms of nature with more 
or less rapidity, and blending into each other by almost 
evanescent shades. Nature mounts up in the gentlest 
ascent from dead matter to the delicate structure of 
the human brain, and fills up the widest extremes by 
the nicest gradations. The sportive variety in details, 
is a serious uniformity in leading principles. Nature, 
which performs for man the humblest services, is mov- 
ing with ceaseless activity over wider scenes in migh- 
tier operations. 

The earth, being the storehouse of appropriate ma- 
terials, efi'ective agencies, and elegant models, requires 
a description so minute as to point out its elaborative 



ERGONOMY. 17 

capabilities. This description will furnish instructive 
analogies, and impart perspicuity to subsequent reason- 
ings. The materials, with the various laws employed 
in elaboration, are splendid gratuities for which the 
Deity does not receive the least equivalency. This 
universal induction, kept always in sight, will give us 
luminous conceptions, extensive views, and infallible 
conclusions. 

More than fifty distinct elements, in various com- 
binations, compose the material world. Silica, com- 
posing rocks and sands, appears in amorphous or crys- 
talline magnificence ; and alumina, next in abundance, 
usually appears in rude masses, but is nearly the sole 
constituent of the ruby and the sapphire, two of the 
most beautiful gems. Lime, magnesia, and oxide of 
iron, are abundant materials ; while glucina is found 
only in the euclase, the beryl, and the emerald. The 
organic elements are dissipated by burning in the at- 
mosphere. 

Primitive rocks compose the frame of the globe, form 
the loftiest mountains, and extend below the other for- 
mations. Transition rocks, composed of primitive 
fragments consolidated into continuous masses, often 
contain much organic remains, with various metallic 
ores. Secondary formations, showing a less crystalline 
structure, contain organic remains of known existing 
species. Alluvial deposits are those accumulations 
which are constantly forming by fluvial currents and 
mountain torrents. 

The various strata on the large scale, are wrapped 
round the globe like the layers of an onion, maintain- 
ing the same relative situation. They have an incli- 



18 E R G N M Y . 

nation to the horizontal plane, an arrangement which 
successively exposes a rich variety of minerals at the 
surface. Gneiss forms the vast mass of the Carpa- 
thian mountains ; and granite, which frequently rises 
to the surface, composes the tops of the loftiest moun- 
tains, as well as the basis of the earth's solid crust. 
Granitic rocks not adapted to afford a fertile soil, ge- 
nerally constitute mountain districts which are ill- 
suited for human habitations ; while, on the contrary, 
level and temperate regions are usually composed of 
strata containing those ingredients which are subser- 
vient to luxuriant vegetation. 

Each element from the Divine mensuration, enters 
into combination by numerary proportions. Particles 
possess elective affinities which, under given circum- 
stances, seize upon other particles within their attrac- 
tive sphere. Hydrogen unites with eight times its 
weight of oxygen ; and each element combines by its 
simple equivalent, or by some of its multiples. The 
Deity has measured the waters, meted out the heavens, 
weighed the mountains, and established batteries to 
separate compounds, to combine substances into new 
arrangements, to modify chemical forces in endless 
complexity. 

Hydrogen, a highly inflammable, united with oxygen, 
a strong supporter of combustion, produces water, 
which can neither be set on fire nor support flame. 
The one loses its supporting power ; the other lays 
aside its combustibility. Muriate of ammonia is a solid 
substance formed by a liquid with a gas ; and carbonate 
of ammonia, a hard crystallization, results from the 
union of two invisible gases. Iodine, the vapor of 



E R G N M Y . 19 

which is of a violet hue, forms a red compound with 
mercury, a yellow one with lead. The difference be- 
tween white and red lead, arises solely from the amount 
of oxygen in their respective compositions. A brown 
oxide of copper gives rise to a blue salt ; while a salt 
of a yellow oxide of lead, is colorless. A substance, in 
successive combinations, is blue in the pink, white in 
the rose, purple in the hyacinth, poisonous in the upas, 
delicious in the melon, and medicinal in the aloe. 
Tungsten, compounded with chlorine, appears as a deep 
red mass with a brilliant fracture, or in the form of 
delicate needles of a deep red color, resembling wool. 

Bodies which evince little disposition to combine, 
decompose from the slightest causes ; and those which 
contain the highest quantity of gas, easily part with 
one equivalent. As combustion is nothing more than 
rapid oxidation, every combustible derives its power 
of burning in the open air, from its affinity for oxygen. 
A disengagement of gas produces effervescence ; and 
carbonate of soda separates itself by efflorescence, 
from a mixture of carbonate of lime and sea salt in the 
soil. Carburetted hydrogen collects in mines, mingles 
with the atmosphere, and forms explosive mixtures. 
When cohesion becomes too strong for affinity, particles 
arrange themselves into symmetrical forms, which are 
reducible to a common axis. 

Caloric, which converts solids into liquids and liquids 
into gases, removes barriers to affinity. Sometimes a 
higher, sometimes a lower temperature, accompanies 
chemical action. Caloric keeps up vital action ; the 
electric fire, which purities the stagnant atmosphere 
above, fuses the mineral veins beneath ; and the ver- 



20 E R G N :\i Y . 

nal sun causes the seed to burst its envelope, the new 
plant to expand with leaves, and the fruit to arrive at 
maturity. It warms the blood, melts metals, expands 
the air, raises clouds, and clothes the earth with ver- 
dure. From the proportionate activity of attractive 
and repulsive forces, result solidity, fluidity, elasticity, 
viscidity, toughness, and symmetry. 

1. At the hot springs of San Vignone, a coat of 
lime-stone is formed six inches deep, in a year. Drift- 
ing winds have inundated the coast of Cornwall with 
sand, which, with oxide of iron in aqueous solution, has 
formed stone fit for architectural purposes. The herb- 
age along a stream in one of the Azores, is encrusted 
with silica in all the successive steps of petrifactions 
from a soft state to a complete conversion into stone. 
In some locations, fine particles of lime or quartz, 
crystallize into marble, alabaster, cornelians, stalactites, 
or rock crystals. 

The soil holds in solution those substances which 
pass into vegetable structures. Silica imparts friabil- 
ity to soils ; alumina, a plastic character ; and lime a 
medium texture. After decay has efi'aced every trace 
of organization, the remains contribute to vegetable 
developments. Silica, which is made available to 
plants through the intervention of soda or potassa, is 
necessary to sustain a stem in an upright position. 
Alumina, which furnishes little aliment to plants, has 
indirect influences proportionate to its conspicuous po- 
sition in soils. 

The proportion of oxygen and nitrogen in the 
atmosphere, is nearly the same in all elevations and 
latitudes. Oxygen is necessary to fermentation, to 



EKGONOMY. 21 

combustion, to the germination, development and 
maturity of plants. Nitrogen neutralizes oxygen for 
respiration and combustion ; and carbonic acid, the 
proper food of plants, forms sometimes the five hun- 
dredth part of the volume of the atmosphere. Water, 
which exists as an elastic fluid in the atmosphere, is, 
by a diminution of temperature, condensed into clouds. 

2. Vegetable life transforms dead matter into organ- 
ized bodies. The tenderest organs and the mildest 
solutions, produce combinations which the chemist can- 
not form with the most effective apparatus and the 
strongest acids. Nitrogen derived from putrifaction, 
is united to other elements for forming nutritive sub- 
stances ; and many compounds become necessary me- 
diums in effecting final developments, in stimulating 
plants to appropriate elementary particles. Vegetation 
transforms brown earth, insipid water, and invisible 
gas into elegant flowers, delicious fruits, and sturdy 
trees. 

The seed-lobes nourish the young plant till its or- 
ganization can draw materials from extraneous sources. 
Roots, so unpleasing to the sight, fix the plant in the 
ground, draw moisture by appropriate vessels, and 
turn in pursuit of appropriate nourishment beneath the 
surface. Trees which grow on mountains, fasten their 
long branching roots into the clefts of rocks, for brav- 
ing storms and tempests. A tree which stands on a 
wall, as soon as unsteadiness occurs, stops its upward 
growth, to send down a root to the ground for estab- 
lishing a firm position. Trees, according to their 
wants, direct their roots towards dry or moist earth ; 
and plants of the same species put forth fibrous or 



22 E E G N M Y . 

bulbous roots, to suit the soil on which they stand. 
One plant appropriates potassa, and another, standing 
in the same vicinity, assimilates silica in large propor- 
tions. 

Plants springing up where the seeds are cast, grow 
up with a sufficient covering to protect their delicate 
internal structure. The grasses, which robe the 
earth with universal verdure, possess such unconquer- 
able vitality as to survive wasting desolations and 
severe pressures. The stem of corn, without bark 
or woody fibre, has a silicious exterior to protect its 
interior, " like a casing of metal " " corroborated by 
sheaths and knots." An imperial infant reposing in 
its cradle enriched with cunning devices, is less bril- 
liantly lodged than the ripening seed which is nursed 
in " the lily's bell, or the violet's cup." The concave 
petals are gracefully curved around the centre, to re- 
flect warmth, and to guard against injury. " As the 
mother folds her nursling to her bosom," so the in- 
stinctive blossom folds her own frail loveliness around 
her still more fragile offspring. 

To the bark succeeds a green substance, then a re- 
servoir of moisture or vital energy. The pores admit 
light and heat, which modify colors, tastes, and fra- 
grancies. The sap vessels are coated and spiral, and 
the food which is furnished by the soil or the air, is 
taken by introception in liquid or gaseous forms. 
Nutriment is conveyed from the lowest fibres to the 
highest twigs ; and vessels corresponding to the lacte- 
als of animals, are distributed in minute ramification 
over the surface of the leaves. The fluids, after 
undergoing chemical transformations, deposit, in the 



E R G N M Y , 23 

various parts, their respective secretions. Leaves 
undergo the most elegant metamorphoses ; and buds 
" come forth closely packed and enveloped with imbri- 
cated coverings." Buds shoot into branches, expand 
into leaves, effloresce into blossoms, contract into pis- 
tils, and swell into fruit '• through all the varieties of 
nuts, pods, and berries." 

Concentric circles, as in the dogwood, beautifully 
diversify the woody fibres. The apple, so delicately 
fragrant, is often of so deep a red that the boughs seem 
hung with rubies, or touched with fire just kindling 
into flame. To the oak is imparted a tanning prin- 
ciple ; to the cinnamon, a grateful taste; to the cin- 
chona, a febrifuge quality. The Indian cassava, which 
has edible leaves, secretes a poisonous oil in its roots ; 
and the cinnamon, which has bark so exquisitly fra- 
grant, puts forth a flower which is highly ofi'ensive. 
The accacia contains a sweet gum in its bark, an ofi'en- 
sive fluid in its root, an astringent juice in its stem, 
and a regaling odor in its flower. The rose pours 
fragrancy from its coral ; the juniper, from its trunk ; 
and the heliotrope, from its leaves. Elegant florets 
scent new-made hay ; sandal wood sheds its sweet per- 
fume upon the felling axe ; and minute plants afibrd a 
delicate fragrancy at eventide. 

Plants embellish the barren scenery with flowers, 
which hang down from the drooping branches like tas- 
sels, exhibiting the richest purple with the deepest 
crimson. The dogwood, a lovely ornament of the wild, 
luxuriates in swamps, or shoots from the clefts of pre- 
cipitous ledges. The magnificent tulip-tree lifts its 
towering head, and displays its brilliant goblets. The 



24 EEGONOMY. 

water lily " has been called the queen of flowers, the 
swan of the waterS; the lady of the lake, the river 
nymph, the white rose of the rivulet." " It is so grace- 
ful, so fragrant, so magnificent," " that this profusion 
of praise falls below its exquisite loveliness." 

In the forests of Brazil, parasites climb the loftiest 
trees, descend to the ground, re-ascend from roots, 
spread in every direction, tangle themselves in every 
possible form, and festoon the woods with variegated 
flowers and rich verdure. These vegetable boas, after 
strangling their victims, remain attached to the sur- 
rounding trees, and form magnificent twisted columns, 
around which a fresh growth of plants soon rises, 
twisting and clinging with an indescribable grace. 
Nature banishes everything ugly, melancholy or repul- 
sive ; everything which speaks of gloom, decrepitude, 
or decay. Amidst the breath of eternal spring, fruits 
and flowers, in colors ever fresh, load the same branches 
in constant succession. As soon as a tree shows 
symptoms of decay, thousands of climbing plants weave 
a covering robe, descend from the. summit, playfully 
wave their plumes, sportively embrace other climbing 
parasites, and finally lose themselves in the immense 
thicket. No sooner does a tree fall, than parasites 
begin to prepare its funeral pall, its gorgeous canopy, 
and its sofa velveted with delicate plants. The shroud 
of death is so embellished as to appear the graceful 
drapery of a festal scene. 

Plants form aliments for animals, which are chiefly 
nourished with organic substances. As only a small 
part of seeds and fruits are needed for germination, 
the redundancy affords relief to the necessities of ani- 



E R G N M Y . ^ 25 

mated nature. "There is more sweetness in the 
orange, more oil in the olive, more juice in the peach, 
more pulp in the apple than the nourishment of the 
embryo requires." 

3. Animal chemistry produces living tissues ; and 
life, the active state of an animal, includes sensation 
with the ordinary attributes of living beings. Sensa- 
tion belongs exclusively to living organic structures ; 
and life necessarily pre-supposes an organic structure 
for a visible residence. The body is an apparatus con- 
tractable by volition, an organization which enables 
the animal to provide for its own safety. It neither 
grows perpendicular to horizontal planes, nor pre- 
serves a parallel direction in the vessels containing its 
fluids, and, though subject to gravitation, overcomes 
some of its ordinary influences. As long as vitality 
remains, the organism does not yield to the ordinary 
elective aflinities. 

Iron is found in the blood, lime in the bones, and 
silica in the enamel of the teeth. Soda, phosphorus, 
and sulphur, are assimilated into the body ; and acids, 
variously combined, are found in the solid as well as 
in the fluid parts. Gelatin a;nd albumen constitute 
the transparent membranes ; fibrin, the muscles and 
ligaments. Bones, the basis of the frame, are con- 
nected by ligaments, and covered with fibrous mem- 
branes. Muscles move the solid parts, fat lubricates 
the articulations, and cellular substances furnish a soft 
bed for the vessels and nerves. Mucous membranes 
coat the canals, while serous membranes line the cavi- 
ties, soften the surface, and give the internal organs an 

2 



25 E R G X M Y 

easy motion. Glands secrete tlie various fluids, and 
vessels circulate them among the organs. 

A million of living beings are sometimv9S no larger 
than a grain of sand. Ten millions of millions occupy 
only a cubic inch, and beds of silicious earth are made 
up of remains secreted by a species little larger than 
these. The smallest infusoria possess five or six 
stomachs, and a mouth surrounded with many hair-like 
appendages. Some infusoria possess a secreted shell 
of pure and transparent silica, sculptured with a beau- 
tiful complicated pattern so well defined as to distin- 
guish the species. Some animals are soft as wool, 
others are hard as stone ; some rise like a leafless 
shrub, others expand like a net. Some hang their 
heads downwards, others spring from the jutting rock, 
and, like the plantations of S emir amis, may properly 
be called pensile gardens. 

The shells of animals, so seemingly irregular, have 
dispositions nicely suited to their peculiar exigencies. 
Neither the Ionic delicacy, nor the Corinthian richness 
of architecture, could so well subserve their purposes 
as their present homely fortifications. Some, however, 
have a symmetrical figure, and a most elegant polish. 
Some are " rolled up cylindrically," some have almost 
an endless variety of surfaces apparently covered with 
scales, and some are exquisitely beautiful both in form 
and coloring. Nothing can exceed the delicacy with 
which some are marked, or the rich tints with which oth- 
ers are stained. The fish which dwells in the mother 
of pearl, is a lovely mixture of red, blue, and green, 
delightfully staining the clearest ground. In the scales 
of fishes, in the shells of beetles, in the wings of but- 



E n G X M Y . 27 

terflies, nature sports with her pigments in the happi- 
est caprices. 

The infusoria, from their incredible number, their 
universal distribution, and their insatiable voracity, de- 
vour particles of decaying matter, and prevent the dimi- 
nution of organized substances upon the earth. The sa- 
lubrity of the atmosphere is secured by these "active 
invisible scavengers," which, as " wakeful members of 
nature's invisible police, are everywhere ready to ar- 
rest the fugitive organized particles, and to turn them 
back into the ascendins: stream of animal life." As 
soon as they convert the decomposing particles into 
their own living tissues, they become food for larger 
infusoria, which, in turn, are devoured by larger ani- 
mals. A pabulum is formed " fit for the nourishment 
of the highest organized beings," a pabulum " brought 
back by a short route from the extremity of the realms 
of organized matter." 

The coral reef of Australia, a thousand miles in 
length, was constructed by animals varying from a pin's 
head to a pea in magnitude. The pleasures of anima- 
ted existence is conferred upon such myriads of in- 
stinctive beings buried in the ocean. Not being able 
to work above water, they raise their structures perpen- 
dicularly to the windward to break the waves and con- 
tinue their labors to the leeward. They form basins 
from which the sea-water is gradually excluded, and 
into which fresh water falls from the clouds, to supply 
the perishing mariner who is wrecked upon these bold 
shores. The red coral so much esteemed as ornaments, 
are so minute as to be detected with dijQficulty. 

Wasps divide their dead companion to get it out of 



^8 EEGONOMY. 

the hive ; and caterpillars shaken from a tree, though 
they have never been on the ground before, instantly 
turn towards the trunk to ascend. Beavers cut down 
logs, construct dams across streams, and erect commo- 
dious habitations. Termites, with a division into 
nobles, soldiers, and laborers, build large pyramidal 
structures consisting of arched chambers, stairways, 
passages, bridges, and nurseries. Bees, without study- 
ing astronomy, observe the return of the seasons , 
without going through a course of botany, select the 
plants best suited to their purposes, without serving 
an apprenticeship in the laboratory, become complete 
practitioners in combination and analysis. The nauti- 
lus, w^hich ejects w^ater to raise himself to the surface, 
floats by throwing out two feelers to serve as oars. In 
a favorable breeze, he spreads a fine membraneous sail 
on two extended limbs, and displays his nautical skill 
by numerous evolutions. In case of danger, he draws 
in water, hauls in, coils up his tackle, and sinks to the 
bottom. 

The domesticated ox performs a conspicuous figure 
in early history. He is among the signs of the zodiac, 
and typifies the sun in several mythologic systems. 
He was adored in Egypt, and is still venerated in 
India. The cow is a mystical type of the earth in the 
systems of ancient Greece ; and in the Vedas of India, 
she is considered the primordial animal, the first crea- 
ted by that deity who was directed to furnish the earth 
with animated beings. The body, in one race, is be- 
decked with the richest hues of red and white, so 
arranged as to form a delicate roan. Small limbs, a 
deep neck, wide nostrils, veiny ears, pointed horns, and 



ERGONOMY. ^ 

" mildly beaming eyes," exhibit a symmetry and beauty 
irresistibly attractive. 

11. Gravitation, which acts between the minutest 
particles, transmits its influence to all bodies. The 
rotary motion of the earth which causes an elevation 
at the equator, forms the level which retains the 
waters in their present channels. The absolute quan- 
tity of water is suited to equilibrate with the land, 
and its specific gravity keeps the ocean within its 
appropriate limits. The relative quantities of sea and 
land are so adjusted as to supply the earth with 
moisture, without seriously diminishing the ocean. 
Tides, which are caused by solar and lunar attraction, 
rise from five to forty feet. The height of the tide at 
any given place, depends much on the shape of the 
land against which the great tide wave strikes. 

The expansion of the atmosphere by caloric, sets 
the elastic fluid in motion. The rarefied air and the 
diurnal motion of the earth, cause the trade winds 
within the tropics. In the Indian ocean, the trade 
winds are curiously modified by surrounding lands. 
Under the lee of the African shore, near the Cape 
Yerde islands, calms and variable winds prevail ; and 
the lofty barrier of the Andes, shelters the ocean for 
nearly eighty leagues. The shores within the tropics 
are refreshed by alternate breezes. 

The trade winds produce a current across the Pacific, 
Indian, and Atlantic oceans, modified by lands and 
currents from the Polar seas. A current runs from 
the Cape of (rood Hope, by the Cape Verde islands, 
through the Caribbean sea, round the Gulf of Mexico, 
through the Straits of Florida, along the shores of 



30 E IL G N M Y . 

Newfoundland, by the Azores and Canaries into itself. 
One branch of this current runs into the Mediterranean 
sea ; another along the shores of Brazil, through the 
Straits of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean. The 
endeavors of the ocean to equalize its temperature, 
modify the temperature of its vicinity. The water 
which is heated within the tropics, is carried by 
currents to the borders of the frigid zones. The 
particles of water, during crystallization, so arrange 
themselves as to lessen specific gravity. The ocean, 
for five hundred miles around the poles, is constantly 
covered with ice which is often floated far within the 
temperate zones. The vapor arising from the ocean, 
forms clouds which fly to distant regions, giving out 
heat and water. The snow which constantly covers the 
summits of mountains, tempers the climate below, and 
serves as a reservoir to send, during summer, refresh- 
ing streams to irrigate the plains and valleys. 

Existing substances are transported to distant local- 
ities, for entering into new combinations and arrange- 
ments. The atmosphere separates the waters of the 
sea from their native saltness, and transmits fresh 
showers to sustain vegetation and animated nature. 
Springs and rivers receive occasional supplies from 
the rains, and perpetually dispense them through 
curiously constructed valleys into the ocean. Some 
seeds are fastened to light substances for passing 
through the air ; some are inclosed in a stringy case, the 
explosion of which spreads them on every side. Some 
seeds are fastened by hooks to animals for transporta- 
tion ; some are glued to water-fowls for obtaining a 
passage to distant regions. The Caribbean sea-weed 



E R G :n .^I Y . ,gf 

is wafted bj the gulf stream, to feed hungry whales 
which congregate along the Western Islands. 

Nature provides a soil for coral and volcanic forma- 
tions. Mosses cover the surface before other plants 
can subsist, and their remains furnish a mould for 
subsisting plants, the seeds of which are floating on 
the wind, or swimming on the deep, still retaining 
their vegetative vitality. These seeds, taking root in 
the crevices, produce plants, the remains of which, with 
decomposed coral, form, in a few years, a soil fit for 
trees and shrubs. Birds sow various seeds, and the 
swellings of the sea deposit sand, sea-weed, and cocoa- 
nut shells. The surface is covered with herbage, 
shaded with forest trees, and rendered habitable by 
man with his domestic animals. 

Mechanic forces are adapted to chemical operations. 
The force which sends the fluid of plants to the high- 
est leaves, is accurately proportioned to the gravitation 
of the globe. The upward pressure, which corresponds 
with the seasons, so proceeds as not to accelerate the 
rising of the sap, overload the leaves, or interfere with 
any vital operation. The force of the imbibition of 
the roots, of the propulsion of the sap vessels, of the 
operation of the minutest organs, is adapted to the 
gravitation of the earth. The stiffness of the stalk 
is so proportioned to the seasons, as to perpetuate the 
species of those flowers which hang the "pensive head" 
under the hedges. The vegetative functions are 
adjusted to the forces determining the position of the 
branches, the pressure of the atmosphere, and the 
gravitation of the planet. " The mass of the earth is 



32 EKUOXOllY. 

employed in keeping a snow-drop in tlie position, 
whicli is best suited to promote its vegetable health." 

Gravitation and the animal constitution have a very 
delicate and indispensable correspondency. The con- 
tinuous motion of the fluids, so necessary to animal 
life, is secured by appropriate forces. The beating of 
the heart urges the blood to the extremities, against 
gravitation and other resistances. The solids are 
moved by the tension of muscles produced by volunta- 
ry action ; and the motions are secured by such a nice 
adjustment of the organic system to gravitation as to 
allow lightness to the fawn, speed to the hare, and 
spring to the antelope. The pressure of the atmos- 
phere is suited to respiration, and to compress the 
animal frame. 

III. The pressure of opposite forces with a determi- 
nate limit of disturbance, sheds light on those opera- 
tions of nature which formerly seemed obscure or 
anomalous. A beautiful circle of action, a simple 
comprehensiveness of scheme, a perpetual series of 
restoration, preserve the indispensable balance of na- 
ture in equipoise. Variety and stability result from 
antagonist forces, from the struggle of which changes 
occur, and actions tend towards a medium condition. 
Stability is secured by a complex machinery, which 
preserves permanency by perpetual change and move- 
ment, succession and alternation, seeming irregularity 
and apparent accident. The excursions are sometimes 
rapidly restored, sometimes slowly recovered from in- 
considerable deviations. Steadiness with perpetual 
motion, is established by an invariable average of vari- 
able quantities so adjusted as not to disturb the gen- 



E R G X M y . 3g 

eral constancy. All motions, by a definite rule, vi- 
brate around an indestructible medium, and exhibit, 
by their proper direction and beneficial application, a 
most impressive signature of Deity. 

1. The stability of the chemical system depends on 
the equipoise of antagonist forces. Disunion and 
composition alternately unform and regenerate all na- 
ture ; and the elements, never worn by usage, perform 
innumerable cycles. The chemical world, contemplat- 
ed in its aggregate mass, or in its organized form, 
exhibits perpetual change with elementary incorrup- 
tibility. The organic substances which moulder into 
an elementary mass, furnish fresh fuel for succeeding 
generations. Every vestige of their late character is 
lost, and the materials are appropriated to other pur- 
poses. Granitic mountains possess a hardy texture, 
while the organic world manifests the rapidest changes. 
The Hindoo mythology represents the Supreme Being 
as regulating the universe by a triad of inferior dei- 
ties, a generating, a decomposing, a preserving agency. 

The purest metals turn into oxides, the firmest rocks 
crumble into granules. Oxygen, which is absorbed by 
almost all mineral masses exposed to the atmosphere, 
destroys the arrangements of the elements which con- 
stitute the hardest aggregate rocks on the globe. 
Water dissolves gypsum, the atmosphere effloresces 
limestone, and shell-fish perforate the hardest marbles. 
The expansion of freezing water rends hard rocks, and 
comminutes porous substances. Rocks are comminuted 
in their descent from the mountains, by the lashings 
of the ocean, and by friction in passing down rapid 
currents. 



34 E R G N ^I Y . 

The ultimate decay of wood, a slow combustion, forms 
new bodies ; vegetables, by fermentation, undergo altera- 
tions in their elementary constitution ; and putrefaction 
transposes the atoms of complex substances into vari- 
ous new arrangements. Cyanogen placed in water, 
brings into action elective affinities which do not cease 
till the elements are formed into eight distinctive sub- 
stances. Plants segregate carbonic acid from the at- 
mosphere, and return purified oxygen for animal use. 
This beautiful circle keeps up the gaseous proportion, 
which is suitable for supporting animal as well as vege- 
table life. 

2. The universality of gravitation secures alterna- 
tion with stability in the whole solar system. Its 
motions have their cycles, its perturbations, their limits 
and periods. Its orbits, in the long run, remain un- 
changed, and the changes occurring in shorter periods, 
never transgress very moderate limits. Each orbit 
deviates on both sides of its medium condition, and so 
recovers from its moderate deviations as to preserve 
an invariable average. The planets, in their perpetual 
perturbations of each other's motions, reach a maxi- 
mum from which they instantly recoil. The progres- 
sion, in many cases, has proceeded in the same direction 
ever since the first beginnings of planetary history ; 
and the final restoration, as complete as the seeming 
derangement, requires, in some instances, millions of 
years for a periodic accomplishment. The universal 
law of gravitation, in every case, brings back the 
planets from their long and almost imperceptible wan- 
derings. 

The solid substances annually discharged by the 



ERGO X M Y . 35 

Ganges, are computed to be three hundred and sixty 
million tons, sixty times the weight of the great pyra- 
mid of Egypt. Rivers rushing from the mountains, 
carry down innumerable stones, and spread disinte- 
grated masses into the plain. A mountain near Servos 
lost fifteen million cubic feet, a quantity sufficient to 
form a large hill. Large masses slide from mountains, 
and avalanches of sand rush to the plains. Yast 
masses of rocks separated by frost, fall from the moun- 
tains which are subject to the vicissitudes of heat and 
cold. The massive mountains, seemingly formed for 
everlasting duration, exhibit ruined cliffs. On the 
eastern coast of England, portions of cliffs, more than 
two hundred feet in height, have been precipitated into 
the ocean by the undermining waves. 

Islands are perpetually rising from the ocean, some- 
times imperceptibly reared by the diminutive coral, 
sometimes suddenly thrown up by volcanic agency. In 
the Southern ocean, coral formations are rising to the 
surface, overtopping the waters, and forming habitable 
islands. The Polynesian islands, with few exceptions, 
are either wholly formed of coral, or girt about with 
coral reefs. Two new islands have been added to the 
Aleutian group, and eighteen have been elevated from 
the sea in the vicinity of the Azores. A new island 
was recently thrown up among the Ionian group ; and 
the same phenomenon frequently occurs along the Ice- 
landic coast. The volcano, completing the structure 
of the coral, elevates the mountain for a hydraulic 
engine, to collect the clouds which fall to fertilize the 
earth. One of the Tongas, which is formed entirely 
of coral, rises three hundred feet above the sea, and 



gg E E G N M Y . 

another contains a volcano always on fire. The Sand- 
wich, Society, and Marquesas groups, islands of vol- 
canic origin, contain wild and lofty mountains. 

The lava thrown out by a volcano in the Isle of 
Bourbon, in one year, was estimated at sixty million 
cubic feet. During one eruption in Iceland, the lava 
flowed over one thousand eight hundred square miles, 
and several hundred feet deep in some places. The 
coast of Chili, for the distance of one hundred miles, 
was elevated several feet by subterranean convulsions. 
JoruUo has emitted flames ever since it was elevated 
from the plain on which it stands. Monte Nuovo, in 
Italy, was elevated four hundred and twenty feet in 
thirty-six hours. Since the twelfth century, scarcely 
more than forty years have intervened without erup- 
tions in Iceland. Single eruptions from Hecla, have con- 
tinued during six years, rending the mountains asunder, 
and turning the rivers from their channels. 

The awful exhibitions which perpetuate the inequal- 
ities of the earth's surface, are almost entirely confined 
to particular regions. The volcanic chain of the Andes, 
extending from the south of Chili to the north of 
Mexico, is so uninterrupted that scarcely a degree 
passes which is not seen "bristling with volcanic cones." 
A continuous range of nearly equal extent begins at 
the Aleutian islands, and passes the Moluccas by a 
circuitous route. A third volcanic range extends from 
the Caspian to the Azores. Etna and Vesuvius indi- 
cate the volcanic disposition of Sicily and Italy. Of 
the three hundred volcanoes which are active, or liable 
to sudden eruptions, nearly all are placed on tops of 
mountains remote from habitable situations. 



E R G N ]M Y . 37 

The vapor which rises from the ocean, falls to the 
earth, converges into rivers, and returns to its ocean 
reservoir. The vibrations of the storm become so 
large that all traces of an original condition seem to be 
gone, and disorder, like the spread of a conflagration 
in a city, apparently prevails ; but soon new forces 
come into action, motions take an opposite direction, 
and the tremendous struggle ends in serenity and 
peace. As the colder portions of water are descending 
while the warmer portions are ascending, their mix- 
ture reduces the whole mass to a medium temperature. 
Elements are intermixed in endless complexity, modi- 
fying each other's eifects in every salutary variety. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE ELABORATOR. 



Man, consisting of body and mind, is suited for 
"^'orking up the Divine gratuities. The Deity, after 
furnishing choice materials, variegated laws, and ele- 
gant models, gave man intelligence to prepare substan- 
ces for use. Mind operates only through matter ; 
and mental ajQfections are transferable to perceptible 
substances. Impalpable thoughts are clothed in words, 
converted into substantial forms, and rendered percep- 
tible to sense. The artist, as well as the philosopher, 
is dependent upon body and mind. Both labor with 
the hand, while the mind directs the manual operations. 
In every variety of elaboration, no mental or corporeal 
faculty exclusively works. The commodity, the result 
of labor, is, in every case, presented to sense. The 
body and mind constitute the human being, who is one 
and indivisible, a perceptible individuality. 

Man's chemical constitution, mechanical configura- 
tion, sensorial apparatus, and intellectual faculties, are 
suitable to each other as well as to external nature. 
His several faculties are developed in such nice suc- 
cession as to secure a successive and salutary activity. 
Nature is so suited to mind, that mind looks upon 
nature with pleasure. The lustre which plays around 



E R G N M Y . 39 

the universe, secures such an attentive fidelity that 
the child, without classing its sensations, is charmed 
with softness, fragrancy, taste, sound, and coloring. 
The mind forms the heterogeneous mass of past ex- 
perience unto useful combinations and brilliant fancies. 
A brief description of the intellectual laborer, may 
serve to blend scientific instruction with literary 
amusement. 

I. Man, for laboring on high mountains and in deep 
caverns, is suited to support various atmospheric 
pressures. Some have ascended to high elevations, 
others have descended into great depths with safety. 
That he might suit his planet, man endures various 
temperatures. Those accustomed to warm climates, 
have penetrated into polar regions with perfect impu- 
nity. The flexibility of the human economy and the 
efficacy of human contrivances, guard man against de- 
structive extremes. Habit soon accommodates the 
human constitution to new situations ; and human in- 
genuity provides for every season, and for every 
climate. 

II. The human foot, like courses of stone in mason- 
ry, is composed of three arches, which secure stability 
with the requisite motions. The waving column which 
arises from a series of alternate curves in opposite 
directions, distributes gravity with such nice precision, 
that the line of direction which passes through the 
curves, allows motion to the upper extremities without 
impairing the general equilibrium. The head, the re- 
ceptacle of the mental organs, moves around with free- 
dom ; and the bones of the arm roll over each other 
with surprising celerity. The steps in walking and the 



40 EEGONOMY. 

strokes in laboring, fall in regular measure ; and the 
disposition of the muscles to accord with time, adds con- 
siderable pleasure to music and aids the effect of melody. 
The human hand, a subject of admirition in -i^li ages, 
is suited to grasp artificial tools, to execute artistic 
processes, minute elaborations, and a thousand service- 
able actions. 

Articulate speech fits man for laboring in society. 
The expulsion of air impinging upon ligaments, pro- 
duces those vibratory motions which constitute the 
human voice. Vowels are expressed by the mere 
emission of sounds ; consonants, by the collision of 
the tongue against the mouth, lips, and teeth. Many 
thousand words, distinguishable by the sense of hear- 
ing, are associated with mental afi'ections, and commu- 
nicated by oral language. Sound is modulated by 
organs without much alteration in the vocal orifice, 
and as speech differs very little in acuteness, the gen- 
tle play of so many organs, renders familiar conversa- 
tion a pleasant exercise. Singing, which, on the 
contrary, requires a perpetual activity of certain 
muscles, is a laborious operation occasionally employed 
to diversify human joys. 

The human face expresses mental emotions with 
such energy as to attract his species by love, or to 
repel them by hatred or scorn. The instinctive lan- 
guage of the features, a language of the highest im- 
portance as well as of the widest comprehension, is 
perpetually interpreting the mental emotions. The 
various emotions of the mind call into action certain 
muscles, and the predominating passion stamps upon 
the countenance a corresponding impression. In the 



-ERGONOMY. 4:1 

attractive aftections, the features are soft and pliant; 
in the repulsive, tense and rigid. Dimples, smiles, 
sparkling eyes, the softened outline, indicate tranquil- 
lity and repose ; tears, sighs, frowns, paleness, erec- 
tions of the hair, indicate sorrow and tempests. The 
lungs, the heart, and the chest, participate in working 
up these expressive changes in the features. 

III. From the brain, or the spinal marrow its con- 
tinuation, proceed a vast number of nerves, which make 
their way to all parts by separating into imperceptible 
fibres. The nerves keep up a perpetual communication 
between the sensorium and the remotest extremities. 
A change of the mental organ, produced by some ex- 
ternal cause, is followed by a mental feeling ; and new 
perceptions arise as often as an alteration originating 
in an organ of sense, is transmitted to the origin of the 
affected nerve. The senses are the fingers of the mind, 
feeling its way outward, and opening the shutters to 
the invigorating light. 

1. The sense of touch, connecting man with sur- 
rounding nature, is placed at the organic extremities, 
and exposed to contiguous influences. A gentle fric- 
tion of an external body, transmits an impression 
through the nervous system, producing analogous al- 
terations in the mental representations. Touch, which 
is sensorial power in its simplest form, is diffused over 
the whole surface, and exists in great delicacy in the 
fingers. It reveals extension, figure, moisture, softness, 
smoothness, and temperature. It warns us of an at- 
mosphere which contains too much caloric for the body 
to endure with safety. 

2. The sense of taste is seated in the tongue, which 



42 ERGONOMY. 

is kept soft and pulpy by continual warmth and mois- 
ture. As soon as certain substances touch this deli- 
cate organ, the mind perceives some distinguishable 
flavor. The papillary membrane, from its exquisite 
sensibility, performs its pleasurable office ; and the ele- 
gant organ, seated at the entrance of the alimentary 
canal, has a direct relation to the motive and digestive 
organs. The flexibility of the tongue brings it into 
contact with gustable substances ; and the structure 
and disposition of the digestive organs, determine pro- 
per aliments, Avliich the sense is able to detect with 
corresponding nicety. Nature invites us to food, both 
from hunger and from the pleasurable feelings attend- 
ing a repast: salubrious food is connected with agree- 
able flavors, and the sense guides us with instinctive 
force and vivacity. 

3. The sense of smell is executed by a soft papillary 
membrane, which lines the nasal cavities. The sur- 
face is enlarged by cavernous appendages, and promi- 
nently exposed to odoriferous action. Exhalable eflfluvia 
are carried to widely naked and extremely soft nerves. 
As taste guards the entrance to the alimentary, smell 
to the respiratory canal, " food must undergo the scru- 
tiny of both the senses." Fixed particles are distin- 
guishable by taste ; volatile ones, by smell ; and some, 
by their united testimony. Olfaction informs us of 
noxious putridity, excessive acrimony, and salubrious 
substances. Putridity, so injurious to the human 
system, is discovered at a distance ; and an atmos- 
phere impregnated with noxious vapors, is guarded 
against by the oifactory sense. The miasmata of 
marshes and the effluvia of infected places, are noxious 



ERGONOMY. Ig 

principles too fine for chemical analysis. The infected 
air of a hospital, the odor of which was intolerable, 
possessed, according to Segain, the same chemical 
constitution as other atmospheres. Refreshing odors 
resuscitate from faintness, but acrid perfumes excite 
numerous antipathies. 

4. As the organ of hearino; is constructed for attend- 
ing to atmospheric vibrations, the waves which flow 
into it are collected on mechanic principles. 

Vibratory particles form alternate arches, rising up 
from an agitated surface. A very sensitive membrane 
is stretched over bones in the auditory passage ; and =the 
sound which passes through the narrow tube, is aug- 
mented by new resonances, which are excited by the 
percussion of elastic cartilages and bones. The reso- 
nances mingle with the primitive tone, which, after its 
last reflection in the auditory passage, forces the elas- 
tic membrane to vibrate. The vibrations agitate the 
aqueous fluid wdiich surrounds the nervous pulp, a con- 
trivance for moderating too powerful impressions. The 
sound reaches the expansion of the auditory nerve, 
which conducts it to the common sensory. Distinc- 
tions in sound arise from the difi'erence of the velocities 
of the vibrations, which, being repeated thirty times in 
a second, become distinctly audible. 

5. The organ of vision is fitted up for perceiving 
colors. A ray of light passes through a uniform me- 
dium in right lines ; and a white beam emerging from 
certain mediums, is separated into seven permanent 
rays. The eye, consisting of refracting substances 
contained in appropriate integuments, is constructed 
upon these optical principles. The visual rays pass 



44 ■ ERGONOMY. 

through the humors of the eye ; and the ima,ge of ex- 
ternal bodies is painted on the retina, a continuation 
of the optic nerve. That distance which confines the 
image to the least possible space, is the point of dis- 
tinct vision ; and the organ is constructed for adjusting 
the lenses to suit various distances. The image which 
is painted on a soft white membrane, is conveyed a 
long distance in perfect darkness through an opaque 
body to the common sensoriumi. 

The different senses, as intellectual avenues, possess 
very different powers. Touch, which gives so many 
perceptions, is so confined in its operations as to con- 
verse only Avith contiguous bodies. Taste has a very 
contracted sphere, producing few sensations with 
boundless modifications and combinations. Olfaction 
acts only at moderate distances ; and odoriferous sen- 
sations, so energetic in action, are reducible to classes 
with much indistinctness, and recollected with consid- 
erable difficulty. These sensations, so numerous and 
diversified, possess so few contrarieties or resemblances 
that language, with the exception of a few generic 
terms, designates them by the names of the substances 
producing them, as " the smell of a rose, of a jessa- 
mine, of a geranium." The generic terms, moreover, 
were borrowed from other classes of sensations ; but 
as the terms are sufiicient for common purposes and 
scientific investigations, the poverty of language is a 
positive advantage. 

These three lower mediums of information, conduce 
to human preservation, and afford pleasure in their 
appropriate exercise. As Nature condescends " to 
throw perfumes" with a liberal hand, smell has a con- 



ERaONOMY. 45 

siderable share in numerous gratifications. " The 
fragrancy of the fields enters largely into that" "de- 
lightful group of images, which rise in our mind on the 
mere mention of the names of spring, summer, and 
the country.'' Fragrancy " seems to represent the 
very forms of etherial beauty," " the very breath of 
heaven itself," '• that vernal joy which renders the 
season of blossoms almost a new life to ourselves." 

The sense of hearing possesses considerable ampli- 
tude, affords many classible modulations, and cements 
social intercourse. The ringing of bells has been heard 
ninety, the eruption of a volcano, nine hundred miles. 
The " ear is capable of distinguishing four or five hun- 
dred variations of tone in sound," and " as many different 
degrees of strength." The combination of these gives 
" above twenty thousand simple sounds, which differ in 
tone, or in strength, supposing each tone to be perfect." 
" The same tone is susceptible of a boundless variety 
of modifications. A flute, a violin, and a French horn, 
may all sound the same tone, and be easily distinguished. 
If twenty human voices sound the same note, there 
will be some difference. The same voice, while it re- 
tains its proper distinctions, may be varied many 
ways, by sickness or health, youth or age, leanness or 
fatness, good or bad humor." To this sense we are 
indebted for the existence of verbal language, the 
medium through which man is dignified as a social 
being. 

Divine benevolence has prepared a "sylvan min- 
strelsy." The note of the wren, "as slender as its 
form," is heard to the greatest advantage amidst frosts 
and snows. Migratory birds, at the return of spring, 



46 E R G N M Y. 

heighten, by the novelty of their appearance and the 
variety of their notes, the charms of the verdant 
scenery. A general chorus, continued under different 
leaders, awakens us "at dawn," enlivens us at noon, 
and softens " our feelinsrs at ni2;htfall." The voice of 
the robin, "in sweet accordance with the feeble beams 
of the early twilight," " seems longing for the day to 
unclose." As soon as the glorious sun appears, the 
lark mounts up, " pours forth his vigorous song," and 
calls " a thousand warblers to his aid." The nightin- 
gale "protracts his nocturnal tones ;" " the thrush, the 
blackbird, and the goldfinch," " intermingle their rival 
pretensions ;" and " the transient but mellow burst of 
the cuckoo, adds a richness to the general harmony." 
While the matin is pleasing us with its delicate notes, 
" the croak of the raven and the chattering of the daw, 
only break into the symphony" to heighten the im- 
pression. " The season of rest returns" not " with 
mute silence." The solitary "robin resumes his mo- 
dest strain," "yielding in succession to the peerless 
pipe of the nightingale, and the deep-toned but ex- 
pressive hoot of the owl." The night is thus soothed 
with a soft, sweet, and solemn serenade. 

From the sharpest musical to the fullest sublime 
tone, lies an almost boundless range. The chirping 
grasshopper, the rippling rill, the pattering rain, the 
murmuring brook, the purling stream, the rattling hail, 
the moaning forest, the leaping cascade, the roaring 
cataract, the howling tempest, the rolling thunder, the 
groaning volcano, excite diversified feelings. The toll- 
ing of a bell or the striking of a clock, is peculiarly 
awful amid darkness, solitude, and silence. The Tema- 



E R G N 31 y. 4t 

nite, when " deep sleep fiilleth upon men," when " fear 
came upon" him, when trembling made his " bones to 
shake," was agitated with the deepest emotions. The 
hair of his " flesh stood up," and a spirit whose '• form" 
he " could not discern," passed before his face, and 
"stood still." " An image was before" his eyes, and 
there was silence as he " heard a voice sa3dng, Shall 
mortal man be more" "pure than his Maker?" 

Vision, man's noblest sense, " fills the mind with the 
widest variety of ideas, converses with its objects at 
the greatest distance, and continues the longest in 
action without being tired or satiated with its proper 
enjoyments." It reveals a beautiful variety of sea and 
land, shady groves and purling streams, variegated 
flowers adorning delightful gardens, gay enamel paint- 
ing verdant fields, and gorgeous drapery vesting mag- 
nificent forests. It enraptures the mind with elegant 
shrubs, towering clifis, and azure skies. Like a difi*u- 
sive and delicate touch, it " spreads itself over an infinite 
multitude of bodies, comprehends the largest figures, 
and brings into our reach some of the remotest parts 
of the universe." It clears the imagination, disperses 
gloom, and sets the animal spirits into agreeable mo- 
tions. It, at the same time, entertains the mind with 
color, figure, and motion, and roves over grandeur, 
variety, and novelty, without weariness or satiety. 

The prospect of an open country, a vast desert, a 
huge heap of mountains, an expanse of waters, strikes 
the mind with peculiar pleasure. A spacious horizon, 
an image of liberty, permits vision to expatiate freely 
upon immensity, and to lose itself in unbounded variety. 
The lofty mountains, capped with everlasting snow, 



48 ERGONOMY. 

stand in solitary majesty, or run off in ranges till their 
tops pierce the clouds. The snow which crowns the 
summits, beautifully contrasts with the deep blue sky 
beyond, and with the smoke and fire which ascend 
from the terrific volcano. On the side of a foaming 
torrent rises a high wall clothed in living green ; and 
the trees send long tendrils to the stream, as if to 
carry life back to the huge trunks. A sky adorned 
with stars and meteors, at night, mingles with the 
grandeur of a vast troubled ocean. 

Creation is decked with colors, the appropriate pro- 
vince of vision, as " supernumerary ornaments." A 
splendid spectacle is formed in the heavens, at the 
rising and setting of the sun, by streams of light which 
show themselves in clouds of difi'erent situations. Trees, 
clouds, and cities, are pictured in the veins of marble, 
in the fret-work of grottoes, in the magnificent glaciers. 
The thistle puts forth tubular floscules ; the laurel, 
elastic stamens ; and the dahlia, radiated florets of 
every varying hue. A thousand blushing plants ex- 
hibit their delicate minuteness ; a few stand forth as 
prominent pictures in nature's gallery. The crab 
apple tree, from the peculiar arrangement and wild 
prodigality of its flowers, appears as a cone of one im- 
mense blossom tufted with snow. Animals, eggs, feath- 
ers, fruits, and flowers, exhibit elegant curvatures. 
Kivers meander through valleys, branches undulate in 
the air, and light radiates from luminous bodies. Ships 
on the sea, and birds on the wing, describe beautiful 
curves ; and the curling of smoke and flame, is singu- 
larly pleasing. The soft swells of the landscape con- 
stitute the earth's smile ; and color, figure, and motion^ 



ERGONOMY. 49 

are interwoven in the conipletest harmony. A landscape 
variegated by fields in verdure, scattered trees and 
flowers, gently running streams, grazing animals, 
bridges with arches, smoke rising from cottages, fine 
buildings burnished by the rising sun, makes the mind 
enjoy gay, placid, gentle, and soothing sensations. 

Slender trees, gentle streams, gliding birds, are 
lovely and pleasing; spreading oaks, impetuous tor- 
rents, darting lightnings, are magnificent and astonish- 
ing. Beauty is penciled on the spangled meadow and 
the burnished cloud ; sublimity, on the gorgeous moun- 
tain and the lowering tempest. Majesty is chiseled 
on the cedar of Lebanon ; loveliness, on the trembling 
tendril which twines around its branches. Cheerful- 
ness is felt in the refreshing shower ; serenity, in the 
bow of promise which displays its beauteous arch on 
the retiring cloud. The picturesque is enjoyed in 
dilapidated castles, in luxuriant aloes throwing up blue 
leaves above the gray stones, in venerable goats perched 
upon projecting cliffs. The eye, looking around the 
wilderness for an outlet from oppressive solitude, finds 
relief in grand, graceful, and splendid scenery. Huge 
trunks, like the pillars of a vast cathedral, are grouped 
in elegant arrangements ; interlacing branches are 
moulded into Gothic arches resting upon massy col- 
umns ; and light snow wreathed into graceful orna- 
ments, adorns the beautiful entablatures. The sun 
touches the frost-work with a thousand sparkling 
hues ; and the grouped coruscations seem like the 
tremulous glow of a thousand pendent chandeliers. 

Novelty fills the mind with an agreeable surprise, 
gratifies its insatiable curiosty, and contributes to its 

3 



§0 ERGONOMY. 

continuous refresliment. "In the opening of spring," 
groves, fields, and meadows, appear in glossy fresh- 
ness ; and the landscape wears a soft green hue, which, 
to an eye w^earied with the glare of snow, is peculiarly 
refreshing. The tender grass is springing, the lilacs 
are budding, and the greater gems are shining so 
beautifully amid the emerald of spring. The deep 
purple pansy is nestling in its leaves, the blue-eyed 
periwinkle opening to the sunshine, the golden vested 
crocus lifting its brow in mimic stateliness, and the 
gorgeous tulip rearing its jeweled goblet to the morn- 
ing dew. The white hyacinth modestly " glinteth 
forth" its long green leaves, "like a hedge of spears, 
or the palisades of a fort." " As life and warmth 
grow strong within its veins," it erects its head, sur- 
mounts its guard, and looks around with beautiful 
feminine dignity. The Ethiopian lily, " so majestic, 
so superbly fair, so queen-like, so solitary," coils up 
its new-born leaves as if to conceal some delicate 
treasure. In northern regions, brilliant meteors are 
continually playing through the sky. The rays are 
sometimes white, sometimes yellow, sometimes like 
the milky way, sometimes like the vivid lightning. 
The lights appear in irregular arches, separate in 
every direction, or w^ave like long bright ribands 
'shaken by the wind. The Indians call these " merry 
dancers," " the spirits of their fathers moving through 
the land of souls." 

The concurrence of the several senses aus-ments and 
diversifies the mental feelings. Sublimity is exhibited 
in the autumnal tempest, when "cloud on cloud majestic 
piled" envelops the village in misty obscurity, and the 



ERGONOMY. 51 

rolling thunder alternates with the vivid lightning. 
The fisherman loves to look upon the everlasting 
mountain beetling over his head, to gaze upon the 
heaving ocean rolling in its mighty waves, to listen to 
the hoarse voice responding to the spirit of the storm 
which is glaring and howling through the sky. The 
cultivated mind is regaled with fragrant meadows, 
animals feeding with graceful motions, flocks exulting 
with pleasure, herds lowing in social strains, and lambs 
sporting with innocent gayety. Green valleys are 
interspersed with cultivated fields ; and " golden har- 
vests gleam along the glassy glade." Every thing 
seems " profuse with bliss," and overflowing with de- 
light. The " busy bee" displays its painted wings, 
and utters its grateful hum. " The deep utters his 
voice, and lifts up his hands on high." The forest 
emits a piteous moan ; the pines wave their heads in 
solemn reverence. The crackling fire sends up curling 
columns ; and man lifts up his voice in devotional 
tones. Stately mansions resound with music ; cluster- 
ing cottages, with rural songs. The white clover tops, 
like snow-flakes melting into the grass, mingle their 
spicy odor with the fragrant shrubs. Life is in the 
starting buds, in the swelling turf, in the flower which 
smiles up towards the deep blue heavens. As the 
senses rove over " the perspective of distance rounding 
into a radiant sphere," the mind feels a perfect accord 
of sights, sounds, and fragrancies, " tuned to melody 
in every mood and measure." 

IV. The mind is enriched with perceptions, some of 
which are preserved in their minutest characters. 
Auditory impressions which leave distinct apprehen- 



52 ERGONOMY. 

sions, abide with great tenacity ; and visual impres- 
sions maintain so strong a hold on the mind, that a 
painter can represent the image of a face upon canvas 
from memory. Memory comes to maturity in manhood, 
and decays in old age. The pliant sensory, in infancy, 
yields, like water, to an impression which is often 
erased as soon as the external cause ceases to operate. 
The plastic sensory, in manhood, receives and retains, 
like wax, the impressions which are committed to its 
charge ; and the vital functions, then in vigorous ac- 
tivity, arrange each one in its proper department for 
preservation and use. The rigid sensory, in old age, 
refuses, like iron, to receive new impressions ; and 
recent transactions vanish like the rhapsody of an 
evening tale, or like the shadows of a cloud flying over 
frozen fields in a winter's day. Aged persons, by re- 
membering the scenes of youth, are furnished, in dreary 
age, with pleasing images. 

After the storage of primary impressions, intellec- 
tion comes into play for working up the mental stores 
into endless varieties. The mind perceives the agree- 
ment or diversity of elementary impressions, and dis- 
covers their relative proportions or mutual depen- 
dencies. As man is connected to external nature by 
invariable laws, he provides for his pressing necessities, 
pushes his reason into the nicest relations, and em- 
braces the loftiest systems in his comprehensive 
understanding. Seemingly formed for immediate 
destruction, man's elaborative genius soon suggests 
the secret remedy. The defenceless condition of man 
is compensated by the nicest intellection, which gives 
rise to the arts and sciences. The knowledge of in- 



ERGONOMY. 63 

variable relations is a medium of mental elegance, of 
the arts of civilized life, of the continuance of physical 
existence, which is preserved only by an unceasing 
adaptation of human actions to external nature. The 
seemingly rugged laws of nature, learned from heredi- 
tary succession or personal experience, are turned to 
positive advantage. A correct application of science 
to elaborative pursuits, the last stage of human indus- 
try, is a fruitful source of intellectual luxury as well as 
of pecuniary emolument. 

The vast in nature, the splendid in intellect, the 
lofty in morals, elicits the sublimest contemplations. 
An awful grandeur agitates the mind while contem- 
plating the Mighty Power that piled up the massy 
cliffs, rent asunder the mountains, and flung their scat- 
tered fragments over the valleys. The mind is amazed 
at the impulse which launched the masses of the 
spheres, and generated the harmony of the forces. A 
mind which grasps at conceptions too mighty for its 
capacity, is flung into the most rapturous astonishment. 
The sailor boy trembles at the vastness of his concep- 
tions, when he thinks of the illimitable expanse above, 
the wide waste of waters around, and the unfathomable 
abyss beneath. Undetermined prospects furnish ele- 
ments for speculations upon eternity and infinitude, 
elements suited for exciting high devotional feelings. 
The mind is elevated by contemplating the Divine 
nature, which is uncircumscribed by time or place ; 
which is incomprehensible by the largest capacity. 

To contemplate the sublime, in connection with the 
useful, is a delightful exercise. The glaciers, so mag- 
nificent in contemplation, are inexhaustible reservoirs 



5i EKGONOMY. 

which melt into water in proportion as the rivers need 
a supply. Four hundred glaciers lie between Mount 
Blanc and the frontiers of the Tja^ol, and their fullest 
beauty is only producible by the richest and warmest 
light, which converts them into refreshing streamgi 
The very heat which illuminates the icy masses, opens 
up passages resembling magic " towns of ice, with pil- 
asters, pyramids, columns, and obelisks, reflecting to 
the sun the most brilliant hues of the finest gems." 
A glacier of the Rhone is described by Bourrit as " a 
scaffolding of transparent ice, filling a space of two 
miles, rising to the clouds, and darting flashes of light 
like the sun." The beholder sees "the streets and 
buildings of a city, erected in the form of an amphi- 
theatre, and embellished with pieces of water, cascades, 
and torrents." 

Plants, with a peculiar fitness to supply human ne- 
cessities, are endowed with simple, rich, and variegated 
beauties. The utility of the flower, which appeals to 
man's poetic sensibility, is less manifest than its sub- 
serviency to his intellectual nature. Nature pours 
the loveliest charms over the simplest principles of 
life, and intimately connects the preservation and mul- 
tiplication of the species with luxuriance and orna- 
ment. The blossoms come from a treasury so profuse, 
that an accidental destruction of a large part, still 
leaves a redundancy. The root, stem, branch, leaf, 
and flower, are contained latent in the undeveloped 
seed, which produces a plant partaking of every pa- 
rental peculiarity. The several parts appear in due 
time, and the plant takes an independent stand to be- 
come the parent of a multitude. The elegant struc- 



EKGONOMY. 55 

ture, the admirable symmetry, the nice adaptation, are 
made to promote man's physical comfort, intellectual 
happiness, and moral enjoyment. 

A devout study of nature develops the inquisitive 
mind, and the grateful heart. The floral creation fur- 
nishes striking emblems of the Creator's perfection and 
loveliness, his lofty and benevolent attributes. These 
frail symbols of infinite Excellence, excite such a strong 
and electric feeling, that " every tree becomes a hymn, 
and every efflorescence a song." Reflection passes rap- 
idly from the inert image to the Divine energy, that 
directs the passive elements into such useful and ele- 
gant forms. The models of material beauty which re- 
flect moral loveliness, harmonizes the soul, constrains 
it to imitation, and calls forth admiration toward that 
Source of beauty from whence these graceful concep- 
tions emanate. Flow^ers are stars which glow ^' in the 
green firmament of earth," " emblems of the bright 
and better land." The spring, a season of hope and 
renovation, excites those calm and deep feelings which 
are in unison with nature's loveliness. The fragrance 
which loads the air, the soft petals which fall like foam 
on the ground, the tender verdure of the grass, the 
salutations of the season, calm the turbulent emotions, 
and fill the heart with a fulness of happiness too deep 
for utterance. 

The universe consists of harmoniously arranged 
series, which the mind passes over with exquisite 
pleasure. The human body, the perfection of design, 
has many workshops in continuous operation. The 
muscles have six thousand intentions, the bones one 
hundred thousand ; and the skin, lio^aments, veins, 



56 ERGONOMY. 

arteries, glands, humors, and nerves, are arranged in 
curious conveniencj. The few simple laws of matter 
have their relations multiplied almost to infinity, and 
the mind delights to carry out a principle to its remotest 
consequence. The human countenance, so beautiful in 
lines and shades, exhibits a transcendent beauty in its 
mysterious expression of intelligence, sensibility, and 
benevolence. Beauty is inscribed on the purest moral 
qaulities ; and sublimity arises from certain affections 
of mind displayed in great actions. 

Nature coyly witholds her secrets for a time, to 
secure patient observation, to stimulate laudable curi- 
osity. Physical laws are discoverable with that mode- 
rate degree of study which is suited to invigorate the 
mental faculties. As the sentences are written in 
hieroglyphics, the meanings must be elicited by dili- 
gent observation ; but as soon as the true interpreta- 
tion occurs, the whole line of symbolic characters as- 
sumes a definite and delightful symmetry. As per- 
plexity is succeeded by repose, the mind hastens to 
new explorations. Continuous experience soothes man 
to wise convictions, and disposes him to salutary seren- 
ity in his ardent pursuits. As a thousand mysteries 
are continually calling for investigation, the obscurity 
of nature supplies a wholesome and agreeable disci- 
pline. "Man lives in a system of approximations," 
" in a system of suggestions." The orbit of nature 
vaults into such an unfathomable deep, that human 
intellect cannot report the return of the curve. Na- 
ture, with a failure to yield present satisfaction, keeps 
up a continuous enticement. The soft beauty of the 
summer clouds is not so much the present drapery as 



ERGONOMY. 57 

an allurement to festive pavilions bej^ond. Nature is 
always converting herself into a vast promise, and es- 
corting man through life with anticipative blessings. 

The imagination forms fair summers, perfect scenery, 
beautiful abodes, distinguished honors, cheerful homes, 
angelic companions, and thrilling joys. It nestles 
among vines, lays on odorous flowers, and sports among 
emerald groves. It forms trunks of clouded agate, 
and leaves of broad emerald, which give forth such a 
soft chime as to make the air melodious with a thou- 
sand fairy harps. Thick vines drop to the margin of 
pools heavy with emerald leaves, clusters of rubies, 
and purple amethysts, which shed their various lights 
upon the pellucid water which sparkles as it flows in 
soft murmurs through the grove. The atmosphere, as 
soft and bland as the perfume of a bed of water-lilies, 
receives hues from the glowing trees and delicate flow- 
ers which bloom among the leaping cascades, and flour- 
ish among transparent rocks high upon the distant 
mountains which bound the sight with their gold and 
billowy purple. In the emerald shade, columns of 
heavenly sculpture shoot their snowy shafts up among 
the trees ; and temples, with pillars of jasper and 
domes of fluted pearl, stand in clouds of soft light, 
which curls upward with a continued silvery smoke. 
Shaking the rosy light from his wings, man mounts up, 
in imagination, into the mellow atmosphere, flies among 
the clouds, floats with a wavy motion, wanders among 
planets, converses with beings of angelic beauty, and 
bathes himself in celestial light. 

Intellection leaps beyond the sepulchre. The mind, 
now acting through matter, has a strong presentiment 

3* 



58 ERGONOMY. 

of its future independency. Physical decay is often 
attended "witli intellectual improvementj bodily suffer- 
ing with mental pleasure, and corporeal sluggishness 
with spiritual activity. As soon as death snaps asun- 
der the connecting ligature, the body and mind, like two 
companions who drop conversation, lose each other's 
company. After putting off the present tabernacle 
which survives in another form, the mind believes that 
it can roam with more ease and rapidity. The mind 
transcends its present existence, abhors annihilation, 
and exhults in interminable prospects of progressive 
improvement. Animated with such a glowing expect- 
ancy, it grasps after immortality, and longs for celes- 
tial scenes. It recoils at a past, but springs with alac- 
rity into a future infinity. 

The constitution of nature is suited to develop man's 
physical and intellectual energies. By imparting a 
progressive perfection to nature, the Creator has taught 
us to labor. As materials require amelioration, indus- 
try is rendered a necessary and indispensable duty. 
Man is necessitated to labor for physical existence, 
intellectual enjoyments, and virtuous affections. Adam, 
in a state of innocence, was necessitated to labor, not- 
withstanding his small family, large estate, extensive 
dominion, high extraction, and contemplative genius. 
Human life is a routine of care and toil, of familiar 
pursuits and formal actions, of poetic sensibilities and 
religious contemplations. 

Useful and manly occupations, like a machine bright- 
ened by usage, preserves the human body and mind 
from corrosive injury. The exercise of the muscular 
frame secures that vigorous circulation, which, in the 



ERGO NO MY. 59 

alternations of activity and repose, is so healthful to 
body and mind. That activity which is so pleased in 
successful pursuits, is followed by weariness, which, 
while the active powers are sinking to rest, diffuses a 
feeling almost voluptuous. To this succeeds an impa- 
tience of repose ; and these alternations, so necessary 
to health, invite man from stage to stage in his mo- 
mentous existence Science, the result of mental ac- 
tivity, makes the winds and the weaves, the earth and 
the air, the heat and the cold, the brittle rock and the 
ductile metal, the fragile flower and the towering for- 
est, minister to human necessities and refinements. 

In controlling the wonderful agencies of nature, man 
acquires a high prerogative, discovers his magic effi- 
ciency, and learns his true dignity. 



CHAPTER ly. 



WANTS. 



Human wants give activity to human industry. 
The world consists of material substances in connec- 
tion with intellective faculties. The body from the 
dust and the mind from heaven, are brought into the 
closest union, and curiously moulded into one. Man 
calls " corruption" his " father," " the worm" his " mo- 
ther" and "sister," and angels his anticipated com- 
panions. The complicated wants of this compounded 
nature, calls for continuous exertion ; and man, like a 
boat on a stream^ glides swiftly to destruction as soon 
as he ceases to grapple with nature. Exertions are 
necessar}^ to supply physical necessities, elegant tastes, 
literary cravings, religious emotions, and simple con- 
solations. Life has other wants " than to adorn this 
body which must so soon be wrapped in grave clothes, 
than to keep warm and flowing the blood which must 
so soon lie cold and stasrnant in the tomb." 

Want is bounded solely by the utmost limits of hu- 
man acquirement. As soon as inferior wants are sup- 
plied, noble desires immediately present themselves, 
and become almost as imperious as those which for- 
merly demanded food for the appetite, or shelter against 
the inclemency of the seasons. As moderate exertion 



ERGONOMY. 61 

satisfies the inferior senses, ample scope is left for 
commodious architecture, beautiful amusements, and 
elegant literature. Throughout the delightful circle 
of surrounding beauty, the mind finds abundant excite- 
ment to elicit its utmost activities. In the highest 
stage of social improvements, the mind needs the sci- 
ence of philosophers, the elocution of orators, the ex- 
citements of literature, the sentiments of poetry, the 
incentives of moralists, and the charms of music, to 
enhance social pleasures. As man advances in civili- 
zation, less labor is sufficient to supply mere necessa- 
ries, and lofty aspirations are curious contrivances of 
nature for prolonging industrial habits. 

Want, the comprehensive induction, merges all mi- 
nor distinctions, and manifests itself in every com- 
modity. Human ^vants appear in the gratifications 
provided for the senses, and through them for the no- 
bler mind. The sense of touch requires several arti- 
ficial gratifications ; and the organ of taste, besides 
its necessary demands, requires considerable artificial 
refinements. The organ of smell has its peculiar 
wants ; the auditory nerves want their appropriate 
excitements ; and vision d'eraands all the industr}^ which 
escapes in providing for the other senses. The elabo- 
rations, in the following enumeration, will be arranged 
according to the principal sense which they are de- 
signed to gratify, and to those senses which appeal 
more directly to the mind. 

1. To warm the human body, the surrounding atmo- 
sphere must be raised to a moderate temperature. Rig- 
orous climates call into requisition the trees of the 
forest and the coal of the mine, for mollifying human 



6^ E R G N MT. 

food, for fortifying the human frame against atmo- 
spheric inclemency. Nature clothes inferior animals 
in dresses suitable to the latitude, and gives man intel- 
ligence to clothe himself The cotton yarn spun an- 
nually in England, would encircle the earth's orbit 
more than eight times, and the manufactured fabrics 
would pass more than twelve times round the globe. 
Man, wanting soft beds and clothing, has manufactur- 
ed fabrics excelling the amaranth in softness. In 
rigorous climates, he needs shelter for himself and his 
domestic animals. 

2. To acquire food for sustaining life, elicits, in some 
latitudes, considerable systematic activity. Some fla- 
vors produce too much, others too little excitement to 
the digestive organs. The constitution is more invig- 
orated by the simple productions of nature, than by 
those monstrous mixtures which stimulate the organs 
to unnatural activity. Rhubarb tastes pleasant and 
delicious in tarts ; caraway and coriander are useful 
for medicine and confectionary. Prussic acid, a dead- 
ly poison, is agreeable and innocent in very minute 
portions ; and that which exists in peach kernels and 
bitter almonds, communicates an exquisite flavor to 
cream or pudding. Salt is a general ingredient in 
seasoning ; and thyme, mustard, onion, garlic and 
spice, are used for the same purpose. Savory, marjo- 
rum, and basil, are wanted for aromatics ; sage, balm, 
and hedera, for tonic beverages. 

3. The sense of smell has wants to demand human 
industry, and like that of taste, receives its highest 
gratification from moderate indulgence. Notwithstand- 
ing the fragrancy which is so profusely spread over 



ERGONOMY. 6S 

external nature, the olfactory nerves demand artificial 
perfumery. Food is required to be agreeable to smell 
as well as to taste ; and plants are wanted for perfu- 
mery as well as for light, food, and varnish. Salts 
are made for resuscitating from faintness ; and the 
mints are used as febrifuges, aromatics, and perfumes. 
The oil of lavender is an agreeable perfume ; and rose- 
mary is used in manufacturing Hungary water. Many 
acres of land are cultivated in roses ; and twelve man- 
ufactories are in operation for Cologne water in one 
city. Musk, a small quantity of which is agreeable, 
is sought after for perfumery. 

4. The artificial wants of audition, absorb a portion 
of man's elaborative industry. It requires vibratory 
bodies to put the air into certain states for conveying 
pleasure and information. To the music of the birds, 
human industry superadds the animating drum, the 
soft harp, and the mellow organ. The pleasure of 
sound results from a moderate irritation of the nerve ; 
and sounds are pleasing in very difi"erent relations, and 
with very little accordance. Brittle and tense bodies 
are required for emitting acute tones ; and copper, 
iron, and tin, are conspicuous for richness and sonor- 
ousness. To produce sounds, elastic bodies are put 
into quick vibratory motion by some sudden impulse. 
The vibration of a column of air is employed in wind 
instruments ; the vibration of solids, in stringed and 
pulsatile instruments. Sound is conveyed to a distance 
by the trumpet, and collected into a focus in the whis- 
pering gallery. The operations of the vitals are re- 
vealed by the stethoscope. 

5. Vision demands a multiplicity of artificial color- 



64 ERGONOMY. 

ing. Black, blue, red, and green, the four leading col- 
ors, are needed to produce other shades. Black is 
obtained from oxide of iron with tannin and gallic acid; 
and the addition of logwood and acetate of copper, 
imparts a shade of blue. The black oxide of iron gives 
a dull green to bottle-glass ; sesquioxide of uranium 
Imparts an orange color to porcelain ; and powdered 
bisulphuret of silver forms the beautiful vermilion. 
The prevailing tints of vegetable colors are blue, red, 
yellow, and green, affording unbounded diversity in 
their mixtures. Blues are made of indigo ; reds of 
cochineal, lac, archil, madder, Brazil wood, logwood, 
and safflower ; and yellows, of quercitron bark, turmeric, 
American hickory, fustic, and saffron. Green is formed 
on an indigo ground with quercitron bark, and saffron, 
a bright yellow, is rendered blue, then lilac, by sul- 
phuric acid. Quercitron, w4th a basis of alumina, com- 
municates a bright yellow ; with oxide of tin, a variety 
of tints, varying from a pale lemon color to a deep 
orange. Carburetted hydrogen burns slowly with the 
emission of a dense white light. 

Clothing, which gratifies vision as well as touch, 
affords ample scope for the highest embellishments. 
The infant mind is more charmed with the beauty than 
with the use of raiment, and the passion for the orna- 
mental unfolds itself at an early period in human life. 
The pressure of necessity calls for rude textures ; and 
choice conspiring with necessity, prompts man to seek 
a more comely and salubrious covering. Textures are 
stained by the infusion of permanent colors, and the 
pencil is employed to improve the labors of the loom. 
Of the morbid secretions of animals are manufactured 



ERGONOMY. 65 

costly ornaments, those worn as amulets against con- 
tagion, those used for imparting additional attraction 
to personal beauty. For ornamenting his person, man 
strives to imitate the shell with its brilliant colors, its 
beautiful spots, and its delicate wreaths. As the art 
of building is not limited to the construction of comfort- 
able shelters, a large proportion of m.echanic industry 
is expended in gratifying an elegant taste for architec- 
ture. An independent habitation serves for the enjoy- 
ment of periodic rest. Domestic happiness is promoted 
by 5onveniency ; public taste, by splendid decorations. 
Repasts are arranged with order, perfumes are put up 
in tasteful coverings, instruments. of music are finely 
polished, and machinery is beautifully colored, for vis- 
ual gratification. 

After physical wants are supplied, much industry 
remains for elevating the noble faculties. Man strives 
to typify whatever is detrimental or useful, and to con- 
nect mind with perceptible forms. The fine arts, being 
addressed to the imagination and the feelings, aim at 
the representation of moral beauty and excellence. 
The plastic arts, which afford pleasure through visible 
images, employ material forms to express purely intel- 
lectual conceptions. They exhibit mental emotions 
through bodily attitudes and gestures, and through al- 
legoric images and combinations which have ennobled 
the arts, and elevated them above their original limits. 
Music and literature, as fine arts, have elevated the 
human mind to a high moral and intellectual pinna- 
cle. 

1. "The very taste of a people" manifests itself "in 
its architecture, which thus becomes its characteristic 



66 ERGONOMY. 

physiognomy." Architecture is a faithful recorder of 
noble deeds, an index for determining social, literary, 
and philosophic advancement. It establishes nations, 
infuses a love of country, encourages illustrious actions, 
embellishes society with high civilization, and refines 
the intellectual and moral feelings. It rears altars 
and temples -with splendid decorations and mysterious 
symbols. Domestic architecture is the offspring of 
necessity ; monumental and sacred architecture pro- 
ceeds from gratitude and reverence. Want erects the 
funereal urn of private affection, the monumental "mar- 
ble of historic dust, and the lofty church-spire which 
gives the mind noble inclinations. The decorations of 
Christian churches, in their accurate proportions, bold 
constructions, grand masses, and severe dignity, speak 
a religious language. In the German churches, slender 
columns united in groups rise to a lofty height, resem- 
bling the giants of the grove under the dark shade of 
■which the ancient Teuton used to build his altar. 
Such architecture excites feelings of devotion, and 
displays more symbolic than hieroglyphic eloquence 
and dignity. 

2. Sculpture, w^hen carried to its utmost height of 
excellence, moves the passions far more powerfully 
than the finest poetry. " Language, itself, is" " but 
the type of thought," and " we crave for symbols as 
the permanent declarations of our sentiments." " Busts 
and statues are the hieroglyphics of ideas, emotions, 
and passions." The creed of nations is symbolized in 
images; and "feelings, passions, and abstractions, 
beam from the classic statues." Sculpture sheds a 
peculiar lustre over the pages of ancient and modern 



:EMgonomy. 6*7 

history, affording evidence of national taste and refine- 
ment. 

3. Paintino; is "wanted for overwlielminoi; the mind 
"W'ith rapture and astonishment. Its range is so com- 
prehensive as to grasp Avithin its scope every visible 
object in creation. A few feet of canvas portrays a 
province, with its variety of mountains, rivers, villages, 
and rural scenery. I?ainting spreads out the azure 
deep, " bearing ships and armaments, either gliding 
gently upon an unrippled surface, or hurled from their 
anchorage by the booming tempest." It makes " the 
eye sparkle with intelligence, and the cheek glow with 
health and beauty." It portrays discord, slaughter, 
and desolation ; or displays concord, peace, and plenty. 
It excites the liveliest emotions, and awakens recollec- 
tions w^hich have long slumbered in forgetfulness. 
Portia, who bore w^ith fortitude her separation from 
Brutus, burst into tears at the sight of the picture of 
Hector parting with Andromache. Alexander, on see- 
ing a picture of Palamedes betrayed to death by his 
friend, was so struck with the recollection of his own 
treacherous treatment of Aristonicus, as to exhibit pale- 
ness and trembling. 

Many vestiges of picture writing appear on the 
Egyptian monuments. The Mexicans apprised Mon- 
tezuma of the landing of the Spaniards, by represent- 
ing the event in pictures on a linen cloth. A memo- 
rial was left by a party of American Indians, by trac- 
ing pictures with their knives upon bark. They rep- 
resented an officer, a lawyer, a mineralogist, eight 
armed men, and three encampments, by drawing one 
man with a sword, another with a book, another with a 



68 ERGONOMY. 

hammer, eight men with muskets, and smoke ascend- 
ing in three distinct columns. Picture writing has 
been employed in keeping accounts, by merchants and 
mechanics. 

Such imitations served as symbols, to represent ob- 
jects which are incapable of imitation by painting. 
Many invisible things were indicated by visible signs. 
The eye was a symbol of providence, the bird an em- 
blem of swiftness, the scaling ladder a representation 
of a siege. Pictorial imitations were abbreviated, and 
arbitrary signs obtained definite meanings by conven- 
tional usage. 

4. Mosaics, which consist of pieces of clay, marble, 
glass, and precious stones, have the various colors and 
shades so arranged as to form visible representations. 
One hundred and fifty pieces were sometimes contained 
in a superficial inch. Mosaics can be polished without 
affecting the colors, and are not as liable to injury as 
paintings. The art was most in vogue in the time of 
Claudius, and Sosus was the most celebrated artist. 

5. Musical tones, in their pure and simple state, 
have something in their nature which is truly heavenly 
and delightful. All delightful sensations are capable 
of being heightened by the power of musical sound 
and poetic numbers. The nursery wins the child's 
attention to the simplest, and, at the same time, the 
richest truths, by means of sacred song. " After the 
association has passed away in the turbulent scenes of 
life, the little hymn chanted by the fond mother comes 
rushing in upon the mind in all its original freshness." 
Music becomes the hanilma'ul of virtue, in softening 
and elevating the feelings, in ennobling and pmifjing 



ERGONOMY. 69 

the whole character. The mind, -when enkindled by 
the excitement of music, is rendered more enlightened, 
penetrating, and vigorous. Conscious of its acquired 
force, it utters greater sentiments, conceives higher 
designs, and performs nobler actions. 

6. Man, by nature, is both a musician and a poet. 
The same impulse which prompted a certain melody, 
produced a poetic style suited to the emotions of grief, 
joy, love, or anger. Music and poetry are united in 
song, and assist and exalt each other. Language, the 
machinery of poetry, even when employed by such 
artists as Homer or Dante, does not present as lively 
images as statuary and painting. Poetry, on the con- 
trary, has a much wider range than the plastic arts. 
These arts can only exhibit that small portion of hu- 
man passion which flows into the face and gestures ; 
but the deeper and complexer parts of human nature 
can be exhibited by words alone. As poetry conducts 
the imagination over the face of nature, the vicissi- 
tudes of fortunes, the whole external and internal uni- 
verse, its imperial domain is commensurate with the 
imaginative faculty. 

The mind which is insensible to single impressions, 
requires collective forces to arouse its dormant sensi- 
bilities. Tragedy is needed to convulse the soul with 
passion and emotion. Yivid impressions of every vari- 
ety invest the mind with sparkling vivacity and glow- 
ing brilliancy. The coldest nature is animated, the 
firmest heart is moved by the rapid communication of 
the prevailing impulse. The words which proceed 
from a heated imagination, transmit a contagious sym- 
pathy, which becomes a powerful instrument of per- 



§§) ^RGONOMY. 

suasion. Intense and fervid impulses inspire us with 
the sublimest emotions, but temporary enthusiasm 
soon subsides to those calmer passions which are bet- 
ter suited to our present circumstances. Passion 
hurries us to opposite extremes ; reason glides us 
along a pleasing mediocrity. Intellectual conceptions 
which are adorned with the gayest colors of the im- 
agination, sometimes excite a momentary glow ; but 
among a polished people, a taste for poetry is rather 
an amusement of the fancy than a passion of the soul. 
7. Primary impressions, being associated with vocal 
sounds or visible images, recall past conceptions with- 
out presenting the original scenery. Words are used 
for naming things, for instituting comparisons, for ex- 
pressing actions and relations. Language advances to 
connectives or words of transition, which contribute so 
largely to perspicuity and elegance. For regulating 
human actions, language employs words for expressing 
cause and effect. The invariable relation of antece- 
dence and consequence observable in physical actions, 
is stated in language for regulating human industry. 
Invisible sentiments are described, abstract proposi- 
tions are rendered intelligible, and all the conceptions 
which science can discover or imagination form, are 
known by their proper names, or embodied in visible 
characters. Language, by an artificial method, be- 
comes a vehicle for transfusing the most delicate emo- 
tions of one mind into another — an instrument of the 
most refined luxury. Language fixes the points gained 
in the interpretation of nature, and applies the inter- 
pretations to human embellishments. It entertains 
the fancy, adorns social intercourse, unfolds the mental 



ERGONOMY. 71 

faculties, ameliorates the human condition, dignifies 
humanity, and lifts the human mind to lofty contem- 
plations. 

Speech and writing, each having its appropriate 
province, are fully adequate for human instruction. 
Hearing and vision possess a sympathy so intimate, 
that the ear is delighted when the eye passes over 
harmonious language. The genius of gifted minds, 
the flowing eloquence of the impassioned orator, trans- 
mit their sweet influence into kindred minds. As 
tones, looks, and gestures, are the natural interpreters 
of the sentiments, oral language has a superiority in 
perspicuity and impressiveness. Besides removing 
ambiguities and enforcing impressions, the voice of the 
living speaker operates by sympathy, and the high 
effects of eloquence are made by spoken language. 
Vocal language is local and fugitive ; visual language 
is extensive and permanent. By written characters, 
man sends his thoughts to distant regions, and records 
instructive transactions for distant ages. As written 
characters are before the eye, the reader can arrest 
the sense of the writer, can pause, revolve, and com- 
pare at leisure. 

The statues of illustrious personages crumble ; the 
images of knowledge, being capable of perpetual reno- 
vation, remain exempted from temporal desolations. 
The copies of statues lose their truth and grace ; writ- 
ing preserves a portraiture of the soul in imperishable 
colors, and gives a page more elegant than the original 
manuscript. The verses of Homer have continued 
without loss for ages, while palaces, temples, and cities^ 



72 ERGONOMY. 

have fallen into ruins. Jeremy Taylor, like Ninus of 
"whom he wrote, is " a little heap of dust," but his name 
is still held in lively remembrance. The author who 
makes his words a link between the past, the present, 
and the future, is the lord of three mighty realms. 
Without the pages of the historian, the very names of 
the heroes of other days would be extinct. The histo- 
rian builds up again the ruined cities, and calls up 
thronging nations from the dust. He prevents man 
from remaining in infancy, and the past from becom- 
ing a dreary blank, an abyss of annihilation. A ship 
which carries commodities, associates the remotest re- 
gions, while letters, the ships of mind, pass through 
the vast seas of time, and make distant ages partici- 
pate in former illuminations and inventions. 

Written language prevents the irrecoverable loss of 
primary impressions — enlarges the mental vision — 
and preserves the tone of the mind in elastic vigor. 
Without such artificial help, the human mind soon dis- 
sipates or corrupts the impressions entrusted to its 
charge, and the faculties, no longer supplied with mod- 
els or materials, gradually forget their respective 
offices. The imagination becomes languid and irregu- 
lar ; the judgment becomes feeble and lethargic. The 
use of letters is the principal circumstance which dis- 
tinguishes a civilized from a barbarous people. With- 
out some species of writing, no people have preserved 
the faithful annals of their history, made any consid- 
erable progress in the sciences, or possessed, in any 
tolerable degree of perfection, the useful and agree- 
able arts. Before the art of writing came into gene- 



ERGONOMY. 73 

ral use, traditon, the only mode of preserving remark- 
able events, had loaded history with a mass of factSj 
fictions, and fables. 

The love of letters is almost inseparable from social 
and philosophic refinement. The manners of ancient 
or modern nations, are depicted in those studies which 
gratify literary taste and curiosity. The student mul- 
tiplies his experience, lives in distant ages, and con- 
verses with remote countries. He transfuses himself 
into the mental states of others, and is continually de- 
lighted with grandeur, beauty, and novelty. Systems 
transmitted through successive generations, exercise 
the powers, and enlarge the limits of the human un- 
derstanding. Literary accomplishments are afforded 
to multitudes, continuous exercise is given to endear- 
ing relations, and human life is furnished with its 
most exalted pleasures. An exile from his native 
home receives consolatory information that his family 
still holds him in affectionate remembrance. 

History opens up various pleasures to the imagina- 
tion as well as to the understanding. The philoso- 
pher, whose ruling propensity is the love of knowledge, 
finds perpetual gratification in tracing the streams of 
science to their original fountains. An unfailing source 
of pleasure arises from remounting to the origin of that 
systematic beauty which adorns civilized life, and from 
discovering the gradual steps in the transition from 
uncultivated nature to the present artificial refinement. 
As many steps in the progress were made before men 
began to record their transactions, it is not always 
possible to trace the methods which have improved the 
arts and sciences, or to observe the chain which has 

4 



74 ERGONOMY. 

conducted the human mind from the first rudiments to 
the highest improvements. As the dews of the morn- 
ing are past, it is in vain to continue the cha.se in 
meridian splendor. The history of objects in the 
misty distance, accustoms tiie mind to pleasing contem- 
plations. Letters conduct the philosopher to an emi- 
nence, and exhibit to him the gloomy picture of humani- 
ty softened by science, which loves to repose under 
laurel bowers and olive shades. 

Literary pleasures, being the purest exertion of the 
intellect, elevate the spiritual and permanent above 
the corporeal and transitory. Human happiness essen- 
tially consists in exerting the higher faculties, in ac- 
quiring mental treasures, in diffusing science through 
society. Literature warms, stimulates, irradiates, 
embellishes, refines, elevates, develops, and matures 
the intellectual faculties. It has a hisih moral ten- 
dency, and receives a uniform encouragement from an 
enlightened philanthropy. It supplies those sources 
of enjoyment which withdraw the mind from unprofit- 
able and corrupting pleasures. It possesses the great- 
est novelty, affords pleasure which increases with in- 
dulgence, and gives to weariness its most agreeable 
excitement, relaxation, and amusement. It drinks at 
the purest springs, cultivates the highest talents, 
nurses the noblest purposes, and converts solitude into 
the most delio:htful society. The grace of lanocuao-e 
and the elegance of writing are genuine and manly 
beauties. Such studies, acute but not painful, pro- 
found but not abstruse, strow flowers in the path of 
science, and relieve the mind in its toils after profound 
erudition. 



E R G N M Y. 75 

• Civilized life is instructed b}^ science, regulated by 
"written laws, and consoled by Divine revelation. 
Christianity diffuses intelligence among the mass, and 
leads the commonest mind to the noblest pleasures. 
As soon as the mental soil is saturated with celestial 
dew, it quickens into vegetation and life. Christianity 
exhibits the grandest scenery to excite our awe, and 
the tenderest incidents to rivet our sympathies. It 
leaves the imagination to brood " over the immense 
abyss," a vastness which confounds the perceptions and 
exalts the affections. It throws over life the creations 
of inspired genius, the heavenly aspirations of hope, 
and the splendid idealities of poetry. It diffuses a 
lustre over the path of human life, exhibits the image 
of rectitude in its sublimest forms, comprehends the 
seeds of endless improvement, clothes morality with 
Divine sanctions, harmonizes virtue with humanity, 
and unites the loftiest speculations with the deepest hu- 
mility. 

Education is an extensive want, a preparation for 
man's various duties and destinies. As fast as a peo- 
ple acquire sentiments, a language is invented com- 
mensurate Avith their mental advancement. To appre- 
hend the meaning of language, the mind must feel the 
sentiments which the symbols are intended to indicate. 
Elegant literature creates a fresh impulse for the me- 
chanical and agreeable arts. The press must work 
with greater rapidity to satisfy the growing want, and 
with greater accuracy to give more beautiful copies. 
The neatest typography which art can execute, and the 
finest engravings which genius can suggest, are needed 



76 ERGONOMY. 

to convey literary pleasures to the understanding and 
affections. 

By the aid of language, particular facts are arranged 
into a scientific classification. Want requires the sci- 
ences of medicine, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, ge- 
ography, and metrology. Pebbles and seeds were first 
used as helps in enumeration, then written characters 
indicating numbers, various traces of which appear up- 
on the earliest Egyptian monuments. The facts of as- 
tronomy are needed in navigation, in civil regulations, 
in agricultural labors. Chronology is wanted to give 
order to events, and contrivances are adopted for im- 
parting coherency to numbers Geometry is wanted 
for mensuration ; geography for commerce ; and met- 
rology for estimating property. 

8. Science mingled with devotional sentiments, pre- 
pares the mind for the deepest impressions. By the 
aid of various contrivances, the mind enters so far in- 
to the genius of nature as to explain many attractive 
operations and beauties. Rising in lofty abstr;ictions 
above this little theatre of human passions and anxie- 
ties, the mind sees the traces of Deity invested with 
wisdom, benevolence, and majesty. The dimensions, 
distances, and revolutions of the planets, are pleasing 
contemplations and useful studies. The reason of Gali- 
leo and Newton took as sublime a flight as the fancy 
of Ariosto and Milton. As the cloud begins to dis- 
solve, the majestic simplicity of creation inspires a 
feeling like awakening into a higher existence, like ap- 
proaching to a nearer intercourse with its benevolent 
Author. Science removes perplexing intricacies, dubi- 
ous hallucinations, and uncertain guesses. The mind, 



ERGONOMY. 77 

in perceiving the harmonious contexture of truth, its 
apt coincidences, and its secret junctures, enjoys the 
highest vitality, the strongest energy, and the mightiest 
plenitude. Such studies, being honors gained without 
crime and enjoyed without remorse, adorn as well as 
dignify humanity, give an elegant employment to leisure 
hours, and contribute to the purity and innocence of 
domestic life. 

Improvements in science and art afford a pleasure 
to the understanding, fully compensating for the pains 
employed in their acquisition. Botany, in its rich 
parterre, has opened a new source of admiration in its 
elegant metamorphoses. Art, not so magnificent as 
nature, exhibits its nice touches and splendid embel- 
lishments. The great elaborations of genius are imi- 
tations of nature, representations of human characters, 
actions and manners. The understanding is gratified 
by comparing the copy with the original, as well as 
charmed with its intrinsic beauty. Artistic pursuits 
afford intellectual instruction and rational amusement. 
Not content with a simple communication of thought, 
figures give coloring to the abstractest conceptions. 
Figurative language sets mirrors before us, and the 
mind beholds objects a second time. It entertains us 
with a succession of splendid pictures disposed in 
artificial lights and shades. All language is strongly 
tinctured with metaphor, which insinuates itself into 
familiar conversation. The mind is exercised in dis- 
covering resemblances, and gratified with its own 
ingenuity. 

9. The mind has one entire faculty for ornament. 
" The imagination is the flower of the mind, which 



^8 ERGONOMY. 

crowns the intellectual tree with beauty and glory." 
The flower is necessary for fruit as well as for beaut}^, 
so the ornamental branches of education conduce to 
usefulness as well as to mental embroidery. As a 
plant buds before it blossoms, so ornamental education 
is long pursued before it displays its beauty, or dis- 
covers its usefulness. In the wild fields of nature, 
the imagination roves without confinement, and is 
furnished with its most delightful furniture. The 
mind alters or compounds the images called up by 
paintings, statues, or descriptions, and forms them 
into the most agreeable combinations. Imagination 
awakens the faculties, gives them gentle exercise, and 
conduces to health and cheerfulness. The fancy uses 
figurative language to paint its delicate workings. It 
plays betNveen two similar objects with pleasure, and 
contemplates them without confusion or embarrass- 
ment. The imagination has converted language into 
a pliant and flexible instrument for expressing the 
most delicate and refined sentiments. 

" Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and 
pompous in the grave." AYith melancholy fondness, 
he expects his grave to be adorned, and that a pro- 
fusion of crape will swell the tide of splendid woe. It 
is congenial to the feelings of the living mourner to 
retire to the grave, to weep in the solitude of nature, 
to commune with the spirit of the tomb, to lay the 
offering of affection at the shrine of the dead, and 
become happier by venting a pleasing melancholy. 
The survivors ornament the tomb with shrubbery that 
spring may invite the young by the '-'opening foliage," 
and autumn " detain the contemplative by its latest 



E R G N M Y. 79 

bloom." The votary of science learns " to elevate his 
genius by the holiest studies ;" the devout, " to offer 
up the silent tribute of pity, or the prayer of grati- 
tude." " The rivalries of the world" " drop from the 
heart ;" " the spirit of forgiveness" gathers " new 
impulses;" ''the selfishness of avarice" is checked; 
" the restlessness of ambition" is rebuked ; vanity lets 
'•' fall its plumes;" and pride sees "what shadows we 
are, and what shadows we pursue," 



CHAPTER Y. 



ELABORATION. 



Man supplies his wants by operating upon existing 
materials. As materials do not exist in that arrange- 
ment, figure, or location which want requires, human 
elaboration is necessary for human support and em- 
bellishment. Man's province is to ascertain Nature's 
mode of operating, and, by artificial means, to secure 
a recurrence of her desirable operations. Man brings 
materials under the influence of natural agencies, and 
causes the mechanism of nature to work out the most 
magnificent results. Human inventions are humble 
imitations of the grander machinery which displays 
itself in the planetary system, in the elegant func- 
tions of animated nature. Industry combines sub- 
stances into new modes, forms bodies into new figures, 
and removes commodities to distant locations. It 
clears forests, cultivates lands, builds habitations, 
computes time, measures spaces, calculates magni- 
tudes, levels mountains, traverses seas, constructs 
telescopes, and appears in stupendous and ornamental 
magnificence. 

I. The elective affinities enable the chemist to 
purify mixtures, to separate compounds, to form use- 
ful medicines. By grinding, heating, and agitating, 



ERGONOMY. 81 

he gives the affinities liberty to act. From a solution 
of camphor and alcohol, he obtains camphor in a solid 
state ; and from acetate of lead and sulphate of zinc, 
he obtains acetate of zinc and sulphate of lead. Cor- 
rosive acidity and acid bitterness form substances 
distinguished for mildness ; and elements, in one 
proportion, give a useful medicine ; in another pro- 
portion, a deadly poison. The chemist extracts a 
crystallized mineral from animal hoofs, a black dye 
from " worn-out coal scuttles," sugar from linen rags, 
and nutricious bread from saw-dust. 

Electricity is accumulated in jars, and lightning 
conducted to the earth. It makes bells ring, figures 
dance, and substances crack with a brilliant deflagra- 
tion. The galvanic battery, an effective instrument 
in the laboratory, has large plates to increase electric 
quantity, numerous ones to augment electric intensity. 
Galvanism makes dead animals leap, and sometimes 
restores suspended animation. Human bodies are 
agitated in every muscle, laborious breathing returns, 
the chest heaves, smiles illumine the face, the arm 
extends, and the forefinger points as if addressing a 
multitude. 

Caloric, a tremendous agent, is shut up in furnaces, 
made to labor and act as a docile servant. It is 
employed to reduce refractory substances, to overcome 
cohesion which seems to defy every other agency. It 
serves to prepare food, to warm habitations, to smelt 
ores, to soften iron, to harden clay, to extract brilliant 
substances from the rudest mixtures. Coal and iron 
ore, long frowning upon each other on opposite moun- 
tains, yield to " the hot blast." A stream of hot air 



82 ERGONOMY. 

makes the ore give up its treasure, " like the traveler 
in the fable, who only wrapped himself the closer at 
the cold wind, but could not resist the sunshine." 

1. The elaboration of metals, which exert such an 
important influence towards human civilization, exhib- 
its, in a striking light, man's happy ingenuity. The 
metals, so disguised in ores, are separated from im- 
purities by delicate and complicated operations, and 
wrought into useful tools, ornamental vessels, and 
elegant furniture. Iron comes into play in culti- 
vating the earth, in navigating the sea, in construct- 
ing efficient machinery. The ore, which is stamped 
into powder, is put into a furnace with appropriate 
fluxes ; and when air is sent in by powerful machine- 
ry, iron runs out like water. The hot metal is rolled 
to render it malleable, carbon is restored, the steel is 
hammered into blades which are tempered with water 
and polished on swiftly revolving stones. 

Clay is softened with water, moulded into required 
forms, and hardened in the furnace. After the clay 
is comminuted by machinery and agitated in water, 
the coarse particles subside and leave a pulpy con- 
sistency, which is poured off for further subsidence, 
and then passes through a series of sieves of success- 
ive fineness. Pounded flint being added, the mixture 
is evaporated to a proper consistency for shaping on 
wheels, or casting into moulds. The design is execu- 
ted with a pencil, or taken on paper from an engraved 
plate with a color which is transferred to the vessel. 
The vessel, after being dipped in a silicious solution, 
receives, by an exposure to caloric, a vitreous coating. 
Amianthus is used for making vessels less liable to 



ERGONOlVrY. SB 

-fracture ; and porcelain is formed of very delicate clay 
with silicious earths, which impart a semi-transpa- 
rency by vitrifaction. 

A mixture of sand and alkali melts into a liquid 
mass, which is converted into glass by blowing, cast- 
ing, or moulding. Beautiful colors are made by 
various oxides, and ornamental forms are impressed 
by metallic moulds. The glass is so ground as to 
leave figures as if made by a sharp-cutting instru- 
ment. It is polished by revolving wheels covered 
with emery or putty. It admits light into cottages, 
and makes mansions sparkle with mirrors, tumblers, 
and decanters. It restores the feeble vision, furnishes 
transparent vessels for chemical experiments, and 
affords instruments to trace the movements of the 
stars, to explore the minute recesses of vegetables, 
to ascertain the functions of myriads of animated 
beings. 

2. Agriculture, which is chemistry conducted on a 
large scale, converts the coarse earth into vegetables 
for human sustenance and comfort. The ground is 
plowed, harrowed, and tilled with appropriate machines. 
As plants cannot rove about in search of food, man 
must supply appropriate nutriment, when it is defi- 
cient in the soil. Many substances, like salt or spice 
for animals, are wanted to digest food for plants ; and 
light, caloric, and electricity, are encouraged as stim- 
ulants to hasten vegetable action. 

Tillage renders the earth friable for the insinuation 
of the roots, the penetration of moisture, the evapo- 
ration of excessive water, and the access of the 
atmosphere. Incoherent silica is corrected by adhe- 



84 ERGONOMY. 

sive alumina, and a small portion of carbonate of lime 
corrects the faults of both the earths. Soils are 
loosened by plants which send down radicles, and loose 
soils are rendered fit for use by binding them with 
fibrous or creeping roots. Tillage destroys weeds, 
renews the surface, and incorporates manures. By 
these operations, the latent elements acquire the 
properties necessary for transmission into plants. 

Tillage gives a slope favorable to drainage, prevents 
aqueous stagnation, and difi'uses moisture through the 
whole mass. Silica is unsuitable for absorbing and 
retaining the necessary fluids, and evaporation forms 
alumina into lumps separated into fissures. Carbon- 
ate of lime, by closing the pores of silica and opening 
those of alumina, increases the absorbency of both, 
and corrects both with respect to defective and excess- 
ive detention .of moisture. A soil thus corrected, 
draws moisture in dry weather, resists evaporation 
from gentle rains, and keeps moisture at the roots to 
enable the plant to perform its proper functions. 

Minerals prepare food for plants, and give form and 
firmness to their textures. Silica, alumina, and car- 
bonate of lime, are the order of abundance in fertile 
soils. Lime, in some form, is necessary for support- 
ing plants, and a considerable abundance of it is 
required for clover and sainfoin. Humic acid, which 
is found in manures, combines with lime, and enters 
into plants by the root fibres. As lime hastens de- 
composition and brings manures into action, it is 
adapted to lands which contain inert organic matter, 
which, in cold climates, forms moors and bogs. 

Vegetable manures loosen the soil, and, during 



ERGONOMY. 85 

fermentation, impart a genial warmth. Guano pro- 
duces from forty to seventy times as great a growth 
of plants as an equal quantity of common manure. 
Animal manures afford much nitrogen, "which is neces- 
sary to plants, and a principal constituent in wheat, 
cabbage, tricoli, turnips, and radishes. Wheat which 
grows on a soil well supplied with nitrogenized com- 
pounds, possesses the largest amount of the nutritive 
principle. Nitrogen which is taken up by plants 
from salts, increases the number of seeds as w^ell as 
the amount of nutritive gluten. Manures are so 
mixed as to enable plants to appropriate enriching 
elements as soon as formed, and to postpone the final 
decomposition to the proper period for use. 

Manures increase acidity, which proves highly 
injurious to cultivated plants. Acidity retards de- 
composition, and prevents soils from using their 
actual resources. Lime neutralizes acidity, destroys 
acid plants, and gives cultivated vegetation a health- 
ful activity. As long as a superfluous portion of 
the carbonate of lime remains in the soil, lands do 
not become acid by applying putrescent manures. 
As soon as a soil assumes an acid character, the 
agriculturist produces calcarosity by artificial appli- 
cations. Carbonate of lime, because it forms neutral 
salts with acids, is sometimes supplied for ages by 
nature without calcarosity. Artificial applications, 
after the carbonate of lime is neutralized by acids, 
require a renewal. 

Silica allows the gases which are not segregated by 
vegetating plants from manures, to escape into the 
atmosphere. Alumina delays the dissipation as well 



S6 E^RGONOMY. 

as the use of manures ; and aluminous soils, by deny- 
ing admittance to fertilizing ingredients, derive, before 
cultivation, very little benefit from enriching deposi- 
tions. The carbonate of lime forms new combinations 
with organic substances, and no manure can escape as 
ion'^>- as the combination lasts. These combinations 
are dissolved only by growing plants, which take 
nutriment from them as easily as from other com- 
pounds. Carbonate of lime, like mordents in setting 
colors, fix fleeting manures in the soil ; for, by com- 
bining with manures, it becomes a connecting link to 
combine them with silicious and aluminous earths. 
"Every pound of ammonia which evaporates, is a loss 
of sixt^'- pounds of corn." Ammonia is retained by 
sulphuric acid and nitrogen by burnt clay, till they 
are wanted by growing plants. 

Plants derive their color, taste, and nutritive quali- 
ties from light ; and caloric is required for germina- 
tion, growth, and maturit}^ The agriculturist gives 
the surface an inclination towards the sun for pro- 
moting light and caloric, and avoids this disposition 
wlien there is a tendency to parch for want of mois- 
ture. A pulverized texture receives caloric, and 
prevents evaporation which occasions cold. The fix- 
ing of manures darkens the color, and increases the 
absorption of caloric from the solar rays. Pine straw, 
being a good conductor of electricity, promotes vegeta- 
tion. Grape vines are sometimes furnished with 
conductors ; and the galvanic battery, which expedites 
vegetation, is used on a sm.all scale. 

As different portions of the soil are abstracted by 
different plants, the agriculturist institutes a beneficial 



ERGO NO MY. . '^ 

rotation. The substances rejected by one family are 
greedily devoured by a succeeding crop of a different 
family. Pruning fruit trees ameliorates the quality, 
or increases the quantity of the fruit. Man, accord- 
ing to his purpose, makes the stem prosper more than 
the foliage ; the foliage, more than the fruit ; the fruit, 
more than the leaves. The color of a pink is changed 
by a ferruginous soil, and celery acquires its delicacy 
by its exclusion from light. Italian corn is so^vn 
thickly on a barren soil, to give the straw that morbid 
delicacy and slender form which render Leghorn hats 
so fine and eleo;ant. Man " has chano;ed the crab into 
the apple, the harsh sloe into the delicious plumb, and 
the bitter brassica into the delicate cauliflower." 

3. Food, by chemical operations, is rendered agree- 
able or beneficial to the human system. Organic 
substances are so treated as to soften their fibres, 
to extract or dissolve their nutritive or exhileratins; 
principles, or to effect an entire change in their chem- 
ical constitutions. Papin's digester extracts gelatine 
which is taken on long sea voyages. To preserve 
organic substances from decomposition, watery parti- 
cles are expelled, the atmosphere excluded, oil, sugar, 
acid, or salt applied, or frigorific mixtures used to 
prevent the action of the elective affinities. 

Fermentation, which tends to destroy human food, 
is turned to advantage in making bread, beer, cider, 
and wine. Machinery is employed to mix meal with 
water, to knead the mass, to roll the dough, to form 
the biscuits, and to pierce them for the bakery. In 
baking, the carbonic acid which is detained by the 
tenacity of the dough, heaves up the mass to a porous 



88 ERGONOMY. 

consistency. The liveliness of beer is owing to car- 
bonic acid generated by fermentation. Fermentation 
is arrested at one point for wine, at another point for 
vinegar. By distillation, volatile principles ascend in 
vapor, and condense into oils. 

II. Man reduces the wisest animals to servitude, 
uses flocks for elaborating flesh and wool, and employs 
bees for forming wax and honey. The elephant suf- 
fers itself to be arrayed in harness, takes pleasure in 
its fine trappings, and draws chariots or shipping 
with evident satisfaction. The camel labors, besides 
furnisliino; milk and flesh, and hair for clothino". The 
feet of the dromedary are as soft as sponge, so as not to 
be hurt by stones or sand. The lama of Peru, a beast 
of burden, eats little, and yields very fine wool. Pigeons 
are trained up in Turkey and Persia to carry expresses. 

1. Caloric, by expanding bodies, becomes useful in 
various mechanical operations. The tire is heated 
before it is put on the wheel ; so, also, the rivets 
which bind together iron plates for boilers. The 
expansibility of metals is employed to draw in walls 
which have lost their perpendicularity. The iron bars 
which are extended across the building, are heated by 
lamps, and while thus elongated, the nuts on the pro- 
jecting ends are screwed up close to the wall. The 
bars, on cooling, contract with such force as to draw 
in the walls to their required position. Blocks of 
marble more than eighty feet long, are separated from 
the mass by a sudden change of temperature. Grooves 
are cut at required distances, fires are kindled upon 
the mass, water is thrown into the cavities, and tho 
rock splits " with a clean fracture." 



ERGONOMY. 89 

By alternately converting water into vapor and 
vapor into water, man obtains an eflScient motive 
power. Steam, by its introduction into a cylinder, 
drives a piston before it, and, at the same moment, 
the steam is condensed and another portion introduced 
on the other side, to force the piston to its former 
position. These alternations are continued, and the 
piston communicates motion to machinery. The power 
depends on the intensity of the steam, and the magni- 
tude of the cylinder. The efficient force of an engine 
which permits the steam to escape, is the excess of 
the pressure of the steam above that of the atmo- 
sphere. An engine with a condenser is cumbrous, and 
requires much water ; an engine without a condenser 
has simplicity and lightness, qualities suitable for 
locomotive purposes. 

Gunpowder rends vast masses asunder, and fire- 
arms give man dominion over the aerial and terrestial 
inhabitants. Rocks are dressed out in long cylinders 
with horizontal indentations, into which are driven 
wooden wedges, which, by exposure to moisture, ex- 
pands with such force as to subdivide the cylinders 
into mill stones. The absorption of moisture accom- 
plishes " an operation, which, from the peculiar hard- 
ness and texture of the stone, would otherwise be 
impracticable, except by the most powerful machinery, 
or the most persevering labor." 

The thermometer measures temperature by the 
expansion of mercury ; the pyrometer, by the con- 
traction of clay. Human ingenuity avoids the in- 
juries which expansion inflicts. The irregularity of 
clocks, occasioned by the expansion of the pendulum, 



9Q E R G N M Y. 

is corrected by using bars of different expansive 
powers ; and. by the use of different metals, a com- 
pensation is made to secure uniform motions in 
watches. Vessels of glass, to stand fire, are made 
so thin as to expand almost simultaneously on both 
sides. Steam-pipes are suspended by iron rods, so 
as to give play to expansion and contraction without 
impairing the stability of solid edifices. 

The elasticity of the air is brought into play in 
human contrivances. A continuous pressure is ob- 
tained from the intermittent strokes of the fire engine, 
and water is thrown upon the devouring flame in a 
continuous stream. In the air-gun, the force, on being 
released, acts simultaneously, and equal to the sepa- 
rate efforts made during compressure. Condensation 
treasures up a great number of separate exertions, and 
such magazines are sometimes formed by inanimate 
forces to be ready for practical uses. On the princi- 
ple of elasticity is constructed the air-pump, an instru- 
ment much used in experimental philosophy. By 
exhausting the air from vats, the process of tanning 
is performed in a few days. 

Mechanical agents are used in altering the figure 
and locality of substances. A series of cars are con- 
nected by flexible springs so as to communicate motion 
successively to the vrhole train, and, on the contrary, 
a sudden blow is given to rocks so as to separate 
fragments before motion is communicated to the whole 
mass. Small bodies, as hammers or flails, are made 
to move with great velocity for producing an instanta- 
neous and powerful effect. Grain is introduced be- 



ERGONOMY. 91 

tween millstones at the centre, that the centrifugal 
force may carry it to the circumference. 

Gravity is employed in various machinery. The 
weight of a clock serves to overcome resistances, and 
to render the motions of the pendulum permanent and 
isochronous. A stream of water flowing upon a wheel, 
imparts motion to eifective machinery ; and by form- 
ing a vacuum in a pump, the pressure of the atmo- 
sphere becomes a force for raising fluids. From the 
pressure of fluids, Bramali constructed the hydrostatic 
press, an instrument of such prodigious force that " one 
no larger than a teapot" " cuts a bar of iron as easily" 
as "a slip of pasteboard." 

A plumb Inie is used to ascertain levels, and to give 
perpendicularity to buildings. On the principle of 
fluids at rest, depends the construction of leveling in- 
struments ; on the principle of pressure, depends the 
construction of fountains for spouting fluids and con- 
veying water into cities. The purity of coins, drugs, 
liquids, and chemical preparations, is ascertainable by 
specific gravity. "Instruments are constructed for 
detecting adulterations ; as the oleometer for oil, the 
lactometer for milk." The pressure of the atmosphere 
sustains mercury in the barometer, an instrument for 
measuring elevations, for indicating pressures which 
precede storms. 

The steam-engine so much resembles an animal, that 
no mere work of man approaches so near to actual life. 
Heat is the principle of its existence, and the boiler 
acts the part of the heart, from which its vivifying 
fluid rushes copiously through the tubes. The fluid, 
after discharging the various functions of life, returns 



92 ERGONOMY. 

to be duly prepared for another circulation. The 
healthfulness of its action is indicated by the regu- 
larity of its pulsations. It procures its own food, 
selects the suitable parts, and evacuates the useless 
ingredients. It cures its own diseases, corrects its 
own irregularities, and exerts something like intellec- 
tual faculties. 

2. Man, as a "tool-using animal," renders the me- 
chanic powers available. His club and bow are levers, 
his knife and arrows are wedges. He aids his muscu- 
lar force by applying a bar to raise a rock, and coun- 
teracts the gravity of a heavy body by forcing it up an 
inclined plane. "With a block and cord he forms a 
pulley to draw water out of a pit. An inclined plane, 
wrapped spirally round a cylinder, is a screw which he 
uses in building a tower. He uses hammers, scissors, 
cranes, capstans, grindstones, axes, chisels, coulters, 
and spades. With such contrivances, he moves large 
masses slowly, and small ones with great velocity. 
He changes the alternating piston to a rotary motion ; 
the rotary motion to the alternating saw. The tilt 
hammer moves rapidly while the iron is hot ; and the 
operator is suspended so as to move a long blade in 
quick succession over the anvil. The fly-wheel and 
the governor impart uniformity to motions. 

Machines treasure up separate efforts for pow^erful 
action, or, as in the case of the watch-spring, expend 
the accumulated force in gentle operations. Ma- 
chinery, by enabling man to use his feet as well as his 
hands, increases his efficiency many fold. It employs 
inanimate forces which execute operations transcend- 
ing human powder and dexterity. It supersedes the 



ERGONOMY. 93 

hand itself, and performs operations with more preci- 
sion than its intelligent contriver. With the lathe 
man turns circular boxes, oval frames, rake handles, 
boat oars, and sythe snaths. From the same copper 
plate, he obtains the equality of impressions in their 
minutest traces. Sulphur, when set in train with 
nitre, air, and w^ater, goes on " through a labyrinth of 
compartments," till it sends forth sulphuric acid for 
commerce. Machinery saves materials, abridges time, 
and keeps such a register of its own operations, as to 
preclude human negligence and dishonesty. It meas- 
ures the quantity of gas consumed, and the goods as 
they pass from the operators in manufactories. 

For acting upon the divisibility of matter, man con- 
structs implements for disintegrating rocks and pul- 
verizing the soil ; mills for triturating paints and 
grinding corn, for boring cylinders and sinking shafts, 
for sawing timbers and separating slabs, for rasping 
wood and chipping wheel teeth ; machines for granu- 
lating lead and making coal gas, for threshing grain 
and heckling flax, for grinding cutlery and forming 
lenses, for splitting skins and dividing whale bones, 
for planing boards and cutting key-grooves, for turning 
bowls and shearing cloth. Impenetrability allows the 
construction of sugar, oil, and cocoa-nut lard mills. 
Permeability is employed in filtering apparatus for 
refining sugars and purifying oils ; ductility, in gold 
beatino; and laminating mills ; fusibilitv, in iron and 
brass foundries ; crystalizability, in manufacturing 
saline substances. 

The filaments of asbestos are soaked in oil, mingled 
with cotton, spun upon the spindle, woven into cloth, 



^4 ERGONOMY, 

and cleansed with fire. The bark of the daphne is 
drawn out to resemble lace, and sometimes used for 
ladies' dresses and gentlemen's cravats. The leaf of 
the pine apple is manufactured into a texture which is 
superior in brilliancy, softness, and beaut^^, to the finest 
cambric. The spiral fibre of cotton, which intertwines 
with an easy, elastic force, is well adapted for spin- 
ning. It has long, slender filaments, and possesses 
fineness, strength, evenness, and freedom from knots 
and entanglements. A pound of cotton was spun into 
.a thread of two hundred and thirty miles in length. 
Of the ornamental beard of a silk worm found in the 
Indian seas, the weavers of Palermo manufacture 
glossy stuffs or silky textures. 

Tortile fibres are interwoven into plains, twills, 
gauzes, or laces. In velvet, plush, and Turkey car- 
pets, the threads are drawn up and cut so as to form a 
soft uniform nap. In Marseilles quilts and ingrain 
carpets, two webs intersect at certain intervals to pro- 
duce a definite figure. In tapestry, the warp is con- 
cealed by the filling which is introduced to give the 
fabric a fine and ornamented surface. The down on 
cotton textures is removed by burning ; and woolens 
are scoured to restore roughness to the fibres. Com- 
pression in water so promotes the entanglement of 
woolen fibres as to thicken the web. Carding with a 
bur raises a nap which is sheared off an even surface. 

" The perfection of automatic industry is to be seen" 
in the cotton mill, in which " the elemental powers 
have been made to animate millions of complex organs, 
infusing into forms of wood, iron and brass, an intelli- 
gent agency." " The cotton/' says Baines^ " is passed 



ERGONOMY. 95 

through the willow, the scutching-rnachine, and the 
spreading-machine, in order to be opened, cleaned, 
and evenly spread. By the carding-engine, the fibres 
are combed out, and laid parallel to each other, and 
the piece is compressed into a sliver. The sliver is 
repeatedly drawn and doubled in the drawing-frame, 
more perfectly to straighten the fibres, to equalize the 
grist. The roving-frame, by rollf^rs and spindles, pro- 
duces a coarse and loose thread, which the mule, or 
throstle, spins into yarn. To make the warp, the 
twist is transferred from cops or bobbins at the warp- 
ing-mill to a cylindrical beam. This beam, being 
taken to the dressing-machine, the warp is sized, 
dressed, and wound upon the weaving-beam. The 
latter is then placed in the power loom, by which 
machine, the shuttle being supplied with cops of weft, 
the cloth is woven.'' 

" The operations are numerous, and every one of 
them is performed by machinery, without the help of 
human hands, except merely in transferring the mate- 
rial from one machine to another. It is by iron fin- 
gers, teeth, and Avheels, moving with exhaustless 
energy and devouring speed, that the cotton is opened, 
cleaned, spread, carded, roved, wound, warped, dressed, 
and woven. The various machines are proportioned 
to each other, in regard to their capability of work ; 
and they are so placed in the mill, as to allow the 
materials to be carried from stage to stage, with the 
least possible loss of time. All are moving at once, 
the operations chasing each other ; and all derive their 
motion from the mighty engine, which" toils " with the 
-Strength of a hundred horses." 



96 ERGONOMY. 

Coloring matter, tlirough the play of the elective 
dflfinities, is removed from textures, to increase their 
beauty, to fit them for dying and ornamental designs. 
Bleaching is performed by light, chlorine, or sulphur- 
ous acid. Textures are exposed upon a grass-plat to 
the sky, with an occasional aspersion with moisture. ' 
Modern art employs chlorine, an agent modified by 
chemistry, with ast(fnishing rapidity, economy, and 
perfection. Wax is bleached by an exposure to air, 
light, and moisture ; flax, hemp, and cotton, by bleach- 
ing powders in alkaline solutions ; and wool and silk, 
which are hard materials to bleach, by sulphurous 
acid gas. Wool is relieved of its fatty matters by an 
alkaline solution ; and ivory black, a powerful decolor- 
ant, is used in refining sugars. 

Dying is accomplished by the play of the affinities 
between the liquid and the fibrous texture. Dyes owe 
both their permanence and depth of shade to the 
intensity of the attractive forces. Wool, plunged into 
a certain solution, assumes a scarlet hue ; cotton, only 
a feeble pink tinge. By varying the preparations 
a*nd processes, modern art, with the same or difi"erent 
stuffs, obtains an indefinite variety of colors, of varia- 
ble solidity and shade. Some mordents, without pos- 
sessing any color, serve merely as a bond of union 
between the dye and the fabric ; others not only fix 
but modify the dye, by forming an insoluble com- 
pound which is deposited within the textile fibres. 
Mordents act through a series of transformations, so 
as to vary colors, increase their lustre, and give them 
durability. 

Linen, which possesses little affinity for coloring 



EBGONOMY. iJ7 

matters, is sometimes stained with colored designs. 
Cotton webs, after singeing bleaching, and smoothing, 
pass to the printing machine, which is constructed 
with great elegance and complexity. '' The engraved 
cylinders," says Ure, " are mounted upon a strong 
iron shaft, or arbor, carrying a toothed wheel at its 
end, in order to put it in train with the rotary print- 
ing machine, for one, two, or more colors. On a 
roller, at the upper part of this apparatus, are wound 
whole calico webs, stitched together, the end of which 
is then introduced between the engraved copper cylin- 
der and a large central cylinder, covered with a blan- 
ket, against which it is made to bear, with regulated 
pressure. The engraved cylinder turns on the top of 
another cylinder, covered with woolen cloth, which 
revolves within the former, while its under-part is 
plunged in an oblong trough containing the dying 
matter, which is of a pasty consistence. The engrav- 
ed cylinder is thus supplied with an abundance of 
impressible color, and is cleared from the superfluity 
by the edge of a flat ruler," " which is applied to it, 
with a gentle force. The cylinder, after its escape 
from this wiping tool, acts upon the calico, and rolls 
it onvfards, with its revolution, imparting its figured 
designs with great precision." 

Fibres are formed into paper, principally by pres- 
sure. The rags, after dusting by a wire cloth, are cut 
by a machine into fillets, which, after another dusting 
in a revolving cylinder, are washed in water to carry 
off the remaining impurities, " The rags begin to be 
torn, at first, with considerable agitation of the mass, 
and stress upon the machinery." The pulp, after 

5 



9S BRGONOMY. 

receiving a stream of chlorine gas, is transferred to 
the beating engine, supplied with size and matter, and 
reduced to a uniform consistency. It is " received in 
a continuous stream upon the surface of an endless 
web of brass wire, which extends round two revolving 
cylinders, and is kept in continual motion forward, at 
the same time that it has a tremulous, or vibrating 
motion." The continuous sheet is wiped off by a 
revolving cylinder covered with flannel, and by suc- 
cessive operations, is compressed, dried, polished, and 
cut into finished sheets. 

By casts, man obtains articles exactly similar. The 
figure on cast iron is a copy from a previous pattern. 
The engraver draws his designs upon plates with a 
sharp instrument, or by admitting an acid upon the 
required parts. The lithographer selects a stone which 
will not imbibe ink, and draws his design with a com- 
position which adheres to the slab, and attaches the 
printing ink. As the ink adheres only to the com- 
position, a paper pressed upon the stone receives a 
perfect transcript. " In galvanic engraving, the 
shaded lines are raised, being deposited from a 
solution of copper on a plate of the same metal, by 
means of galvanic electricity." Copper plates, with 
depressed lines, are copied by the galvanic process, 
and the number of copies multiplied to any desirable 
extent. Medals are multiplied with distinctness and 
facility, by this curious mode. 

Small wheels and holes which require identit}'- of 
size, are made by punching, a species of copying. 
This method furnishes golden stars, apertures in 
colanders, and plates of rosewood which decorate 



E R G N M Y. 99 

ornamental furniture. Wires are drawn through 
circular holes ; and pinions for clocks are formed 
and burnished, bj passing through the required aper- 
ture. Tubes for astronomical purposes and lead-pipes 
for the conveyance of water, have a triblet passed 
through the interior surface. Iron is rolled for sash 
frames and ornamental mouldings. Ornaments upon 
medals, buttons and nails, are made by stamping. A 
pattern is engraved on rollers, and the substance to 
be embossed is passed through to make a raised 
pattern. 

Moveable types, for printing, are copies made by 
castings from copper moulds, which, are copies made 
by steel punches copied from other punches. From 
the ordinary types, a transcript is taken in plaster, 
from which another copy is taken in metal. From 
the stereotype plate comes the printed page, the sixth 
copy from the original. Sheets are sometimes printed 
by the power press on both sides by the same opera- 
tion. " The printers of the London Quarterly Review 
have, in operation, in one establishment, nineteen 
machines, each capable of printing a thousand sheets 
an hour." Sometimes a continuous " sheet of paper 
passes directly into a printing machine ;" so that 
unsightly rags, deposited in a vat, comes out printed 
sheets. 

Maps are printed and colored at one operation by 
machinery. A printed page, or a picture, is trans- 
ferrable to the lithographic stone, from which copies 
are printed to an indefinite extent. Any number can 
be printed from the reversed fac-simile, " without the 
slightest tarnish to the original print, or the least 



100 ERGONOMY. 

diminution, in any way, of its clearness or depth of 
color. The whole is done with such facility, that a 
page has been taken from a volume, transferred to a 
stone, several copies printed from it, and the leaf 
restored to its place, in its original state, in sixteen 
minutes." 

A process of copying is thus described by Babbage : 
'' A cylinder of soft steel, pressed with great force 
against the hardened steel engraving," receives " the 
design, but in relief. This is, in its turn, hardened;" 
" and, if it be slowly rolled to and fro, with strong 
pressure, on successive plates of copper, it will im- 
print on a thousand of them a perfect fac-simile of 
the original steel enarravinor from which it resulted. 
Thus the number of copies producible from the same 
design, is multiplied a thousand fold. But even this 
is very short of the limits to which this process may 
be extended. The hardened steel roller" " may be 
employed to make a few of its first impressions upon 
plates of soft steel, and these, being hardened, become 
the representatives of the original engraving, and may, 
in turn, be made the parents of other rollers, each 
generating copper plates like their prototypes. The 
possible extent to which fac-similes of one original 
engraving may be thus multiplied, almost confounds 
the imao'ination." 

The architect, aiming at the accommodation of suc- 
cessive generations, selects the most durable materials, 
disposes them in the most secure situations, and ap- 
plies cement according to the uniting medium. Ma- 
sonry and carpentry are executed upon such nice 
principles, as to make gravity contribute to stability. 



ERGONOMY. 101 

The architect supports columns upon inverted arches, 
secures the points exposed to pressure, and gives 
materials the required strength with the least pos- 
sible matter. Domes have massive walls to support 
the incumbent gravity, and bridges have arches made 
in that form which is best suited for resisting lateral 
pressure. The stones are dovetailed in the light-house 
of Eddystone, a structure which was copied after a 
branchless oak. Rules of beauty are derived from 
ostensible utility; the most beautiful column is the 
form best suited to support the incumbent mass. The 
painter gives buildings soft and quiet shades ; such as 
fawn, grey, or brown. Neutral tints contrast agree- 
ably with the prevailing hues of nature around them. 
In proportion as a house is exposed to view, its hue is 
darker ; and where it is much concealed by foliage, it 
has a very light shade. 

The speaking trumpet throws the reflected vibra- 
tions into the direction of the vibrations which pro- 
ceed strait forwards. In the whispering gallery, the 
whole of the vibrations are collected at a focus. 
The microscope produces a magnified image, and the 
telescope enables us to view distant bodies at a 
greater visual angle.. Mirrors, with a focus of six 
feet, magnify as much as a lense of a hundred feet. 
With such effective instruments, man examines minute 
bodies, and measures the ponderous globes which are 
ranged in majestic order through the skies. 

Marble is used for statuary ; mica, for dead lights ; 
mica slate, for flagging ; porphyry, for splendid and 
enduring architecture. The fibres of flax contribute 
to clothing ; the oil, to medicine ; the rags, to litera- 



lot EEGONOMY. 

ture. India rubber is used for shoes, roofs, gashold- 
ers, and surgical instruments. The bamboo is used 
for making masts, boxes, houses, fences, palanquins, 
and wrappers for tea. The aloe serves for beams, 
covering for houses, quavers, ropes, nets, thread, cord- 
age, bow-strings, fishing-lines, stockings, hammocks, 
clothing, sugar, wine, vinegar, medicine, d^^e, painting 
colors, resin, and varnish. The milk of the cocoa-nut 
is a delicious beverage ; the soft fibres of the tree are 
made into fine cloth ; and the leaves, like slates or 
shingles, are formed into roofs for houses. The flesh 
of the seal is used for food ; its fat, for seasoning and 
light ; its fibres, for sewing silk ; its viscera, for har- 
poons and window lights ; its bones, for various imple- 
ments ; its skin, for serviceable clothing or ornamental 
drapery. 

" The neat paling which fences" the dwelling of 
"the cottager," says Gordon, "was sawed by steam. 
The spade with which he digs his garden, the rake, 
the hoe, the pick-axe, the sythe, the sickle, every 
implement of rural toil which ministers to his neces- 
sities, are produced by steam. Steam bruises the oil- 
cake which feeds the farmer's cattle, moulds the plow- 
share which overturns his fields, forms the shears 
which clip his flock, and cards, spins, and weaves the 
produce." " Stone is cut by it, marble polished, mor- 
tar mixed, floors sawed, chimney-pieces carved, lead 
rolled for roofs and drawn for gutters, rails formed, 
gratings and bolts forged, paints ground and mixed, 
paper made and stained, worsted dyed and carpets 
woven, mahogany veneered, door-locks ornamented, 
curtains and furniture made, painted, and measured ; 



ERGONOMY, 103 

fringes, tassels, and bell-ropes, chair-covers and chair- 
nails, bell-wires, linens, and blankets manufactured ; 
china and earthen-Avare turned ; glass cut, and pier- 
glass formed." " The drawing-room, dining-room, 
kitchen, pantry, and closets," " owe to steam their 
most essential requisites." It clothes man in " excel- 
lent broadcloth ;" makes " boys rejoice in a plurality 
of suits ;" and " busks the bride" " in robes, delicate in 
texture as the spider's web, beautiful as the rainbow 
hues." " It plaited her bonnet, tamboured her net, 
"wove her laces, knitted her stockings, veneered her 
comb, flowered her ribands, gilded her buttons, sewed 
her shoes, and even fashioned the rosette that orna- 
ments their ties." 

III. The gravitation of the globe permits many 
commodities to be transmitted by animate power. 
The ass moves over precipitous roads with ease, 
under a load which a horse could not carry with 
safety. The camel, the ship of the desert, conveys 
commodities over sandy plains ; and its peculiar feet, 
its long abstinence, and its internal reservoir for 
water, are admirable contrivances for passing over 
dreary regions. Oases, like fertile islands in a 
dreary ocean, furnish resting places and water for 
caravans. 

Noble rivers, running at convenient distances asun- 
der, are highways for transporting commodities. The 
ramifications of the ocean, the w^indings of its coasts, 
the maritime features of geography, though seeming 
deformities, are arranged for commercial intercourse. 
The ocean, viewed by the ancients as a separating bar, 
is a uniting link to the remotest nations. Navigation 



104 EKGONOMY. 

has connected the social ligatures of those fragments 
which fjrmerly existed in the profoundest barbarism. 
A ship, supporting heavy burdens, travels more than 
two hundred miles in a day upon a ready highway. 
The action of the winds, depending upon the equili- 
brium of- temperature, moves ships upon the mighty 
deep. On the coast of America, the trade winds are 
felt as far as forty degrees from the equator. A ves- 
sel sailing from Mexico to the Philippines, often 
finishes a voyage nearly equal to half the circum- 
ference of the globe, in sixty days, without altering 
its course or changing a sail. Steam propels ships 
with safety across, the broad Atlantic, with almost 
as much exactness in the time of arrival as a mail 
between two .'contiguous towns. By the mail from 
India, intelligence is received in England in little 
more than two months. 

Friction is reduced by wheels, the axle of which 
" glides very gently over a smooth surface in a gently 
waving line." An animal can draw still more in a 
canal boat ; and the shape of the boat has been con- 
formed to the swiftness of its motion. Almost every 
part of the United States is now traversed by rail- 
roads. The railroads of England sometimes pass 
under, sometimes over cities. Expresses have been 
carried at the rate of sixty miles an hour. 

Modern philosophy has lengthened life, mitigated 
pain, and extinguished diseases. It has enabled man 
to descend into the sea, to soar in the air, to penetrate 
into mountains, and to carry lights into explosive mix- 
tures. It has increased the fertility of the earth, 
given new security to mariners, and spanned rivers 



ERGONOMY. 105 

and estuaries with stupendous bridges. It has mul- 
tiplied the power of human muscles, accelerated mo- 
tion, almost annihilated distance, facilitated friendly 
correspondence, and fraternized inimical nations. It 
has extended the range of human vision, lighted up 
the night with splendor, and fixed the human image 
on the mirror. It has enabled man to whirl along 
the earth without horses, and to drive mighty ships 
against winds and waves. It has used the luminaries 
of the heavens to guide man over the trackless ocean, 
and discovered the magnetic needle which guides him 
safely during lowering skies and midnight darkness. 
It has guided the thunderbolt innocuously to the 
earth, used the electric fire in the laboratory, and 
endowed the globe with sensitiveness. 



6* 



CHAPTER VI. 



CONSUMPTION. 



The necessity and pleasure of consumption give 
energy and direction to human industry. The peri- 
odic return of hunger, the inclemency of the seasons, 
the violence of diseases, compel man to consume. Man 
also consumes in pleasing the senses, the avenues to 
the understanding. As soon as a commodity loses its 
arrangement or figure, a new series of labor is neces- 
sary to cause its remains to excite pleasurable sensa- 
tions. The degrees of consumptive rapidity are all 
merged in the comprehensive induction. Some com- 
modities, such as food and oratory, perish with present 
enjoyment ; other commodities, such as sculpture and 
coin, retain their pleasurable attribute with the utmost 
tenacity. 

The commodities consumed upon the three inferior 
senses, are generally rapid and final consumptions. 
Perfumes, flavors, and heat, are evanescent, or con- 
tinuous only by destroying chemical arrangements. 
Such fugitive enjoyments resemble those angels 
which, according to Rabbinical tradition, are gener- 
ated every morning in paradise, fill up the day in con- 
tinual song, and sink at evening into their original 
nothingness. Oratory, the nice modulation of sound, 



ERGONOMY. 107 

is ebnsumed by the rudest as well as by the most cul- 
tivated nations. The pleasure of sound, so transitory 
ill sensation, leaves an abiding impression upon the 
human understanding. Visual commodities, though 
they often require a great original expenditure, are 
generally slow in consumption. A jewel, though a 
very costly embellishment, delights successive possess- 
ors with its attractive brilliancy. A small expendi- 
ture in literary treasure, extends enjoyment over an 
interminable period ; and the human mind, in the 
purely spiritual world, will receive its vestments of 
light on as cheap terms as the lilies. 

Nature produces alternate extinctions and forma- 
tions ; so necessity compels man to obtain prospective 
supplies by consuming existing commodities. As na- 
ture has its reviving and consuming vicissitudes, so 
human industry causes a series of accumulations, and 
a series of extinctions. From consumption itself, like 
a phenix from its ashes, arises a new commodity in a 
more ornamental or necessary form. As annual con- 
sumption is about one-fifth part of existing elabora- 
tions, the whole equivalency is consumed twenty times 
in a century. This vast consumption is more than 
replaced in every improving country, which, after sup- 
porting its inhabitants, adds a surplus to existing 
resources. The progression or retrogression of every 
country, is determined by the proportion between its 
elaboration and consumption. The alternate series of 
elaborations and consumptions, often sweep a large 
circle before the commodity finally satisfies a human 
want. The alternations, so changeable in particular 
variety, move over a continuous series like the gyra- 



108 ERGONOMY. 

tions of a spiral line, the coils of which do not return. 
into each other at successive repetitions. 

He who casts his "bread upon the waters," finds "it 
after many days;" and one " scattereth and yetin- 
creaseth," while another " withholdeth more than is 
meet, and it tendeth to poverty." The total elabora- 
tions possessed by the whole human family, is the pro- 
prietary reservoir which contains a support for man 
till the fruits of each season are brought to maturity. 
A store is laid up for future consumption, the destiny 
of every commodity. The hope of future gain pre- 
serves a portion for aiding future elaboration ; and 
the lucrative afi'ection makes a provision for the 
scarcity of an unfavorable season. The mind con- 
secrates, as in a purifying sacrifice, momentary grati- 
fications to lasting enjoyments. 

For the consumption of seeds and manures, the 
farmer receives a greater equivalency in cultivated 
plants. Several commodities are entirely consumed, 
and other commodities undergo a partial consumption 
in providing food " which perishes with the using." 
The implements of husbandry, the kitchen furniture, 
the shelter for domestic animals, are exemplifications 
of partial consumptions. Granaries are gradually 
consumed in storing fruits ; mills, in grinding wheat ; 
ovens, in baking bread ; and fuel, in culinary pro- 
cesses. Fences are expensive investments, sometimes 
costing more than the whole farm is worth. The cul- 
tivators of Europe, by employing shepherds, save a 
vast expenditure, the land on which the fences stand, 
and the accumulation of soil thrown up to them in 
tillage. 



ERGONOMY. 109 

More than fifteen million quarters of wheat are 
annually consumed in Great Britain ; and the malt 
which was made into beer, in one year, exceeded forty 
million bushels. In England alone, more than fifty 
five thousand acres of land are cultivated with hops 
for making beer. England annually consumes thirty 
million pounds of tea, five hundred million pounds of 
sugar, twenty million pounds of cofi'ee. The number 
of animals which annually comes into the Smithfield 
market, exceeds a million and a quarter ; and it is 
supposed that ten times as many are consumed in the 
whole kingdom. The United States raises one hun- 
dred and sixty-six million pounds of tobacco, ninety- 
six million bushels of wheat, four hundred million 
bushels of corn, and seventeen million tons of hay. 
In the market of Cincinnati, during the season, one 
hundred bushels of strawberries are daily sold. On 
one route, twenty-five thousand cattle have been 
counted going to the New York market ; and it is 
computed that forty-five million pounds of meat are 
annually consumed in the city. 

Feathers and furs are consumed for clothing, and 
provender is consumed in rearing sheep for wool. An 
expenditure is incurred in procuring hides ; hides are 
consumed in making leather; leather, in making shoes ; 
shoes, in providing nutrition for the animals affording 
the hides. The vast labor incurred in providing cot- 
ton, is consumed in fabricating cloth which is con- 
sumed in comfortable garments. Manufactories, as 
well as fixtures for manufacturing in private fami- 
lies, are solely intermedial expenditures. Machines, 
though expensive, repay the expenditure with profits. 



110 • ERGONOMT. 

A pound of cotton lace has been sold for a hundred 
guineas; and textures, with their beautiful colors and 
elegant embroideries, are doomed to destruction. 

England, in one year, consumed six million pounds 
of silk, one hundred and seventy million pounds of 
flax, six hundred million pounds of cotton, and two 
hundred and sixty million pounds of wooL Fifteen 
million yards of bagging, for the express purpose of 
packing cotton, were manufactured in the United 
States. More than eight hundred million yards of 
cotton fabrics, thirty yards to each individual, are 
annually consumed in Great Britain. The consump- 
tion in hats, caps, bonnets, and shoes, amounts, in 
the civilized world, to several hundred millions annu- 
al 13\ England manufactures annually fourteen million 
pounds of soap, and fifty million hides and skins. 

Economy in building depends on the proper adjust- 
ment of present expenditure to future durability. A 
cheap cottage soon disappears ; a sumptuous mansion 
continues to gratify successive generations. The Pan- 
theon, a very costly edifice, stood nearly twenty cen- 
turies ; and the massive pyramids have survived the 
dynasties of the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, the Caesars, 
and the Caliphs. The Parthenon, which was con- 
structed at an expense of more than five millions of 
dollars, withstood, for more than twenty-two centuries, 
the ravages of time and political revolutions. It was 
used successively as a heathen temple, a Christian 
church, and a Moslem mosque. Thebes, after the 
desolations of more than two thousand years, exhibits 
its magnificent temples, tombs, sphinxes, and obelisks. 
One hundred thousand workmen, according to Hero- 



ERGONOMY. Ill 

ditus, were employed for thirty years in erecting a 
pyramid. The three greater pyramids mentioned in 
the sacred books of the Hindoos, are called '• moun- 
tains of gold, silver, and precious stones." The archi- 
tectural excavations at Salsette required, according to 
the calculation of an artist, the labor of forty thousand 
men for forty years. That portion of the Alhambra 
built by the Moors, is in excellent preservation ; and a 
large portion of the splendid mosque of Decca, the 
most beautiful architectural monument of India, is 
still perfect. 

Thousands of years have elapsed since the sepul- 
chres of Thebes were decorated, yet the colors are as 
vivid as if they were but freshly painted. " After 
three centuries of spoliation," Pausanias " found in 
Greece three thousand statues," and describes " one 
hundred and thirty-one paintings." The paintings 
found in Herculaneum and Pompeii, though buried for 
seventeen hundred years beneath the lava of Vesuvius, 
retain their original freshness and beauty. The statue 
of Minerva stood for many centuries in the Parthenon. 
The garland of the daughter of a Saxon nobleman, had 
minatures of beautiful flowers painted on vellum, and 
subscribed with poetic effusions. It was once sold 
for fourteen thousand five hundred and ten livres. 

Consumptions made for canals, roads, and ship- 
ping, conduce to increased elaboration, and diffuse 
plenty over once barren regions. The canal of Lan- 
guedoc employed, in its construction, twelve thousand 
men for fifteen years. Great Britain has twenty 
thousand merchant ships, three thousand miles of 
canal, and twenty-five thousand miles of turnpike 



112 ERGONOMY, 

road. These large consumptions have had ample 
remunerative advantaojes. In the beofinninoj of the 
present century, communication in the Highlands of 
Scotland was attended with difficulty and danger, and 
the inhabitants used crooked sticks with iron points, 
in tillage. As soon as the roads made these interior 
parts accessible to the more civilized, better imple- 
ments, more improved tillage, and superior moral 
habits, immediately followed. "Wild and neglected 
plains in Ireland, were connected by roads with im- 
proved districts, and the inhabitants soon exhibited a 
pleasing spectacle of tranquility, industry and economy. 

The consumption of medicine is an intermedial con- 
sumption, which returns in physical strength and ac- 
tivity. The medical profession, by preserving valua- 
ble lives, has increased elaboration, and, by removing 
or mitigating various diseases, has prolonged the {aver- 
age of human life by several years. Medicine often 
stays contagious maladies, which consign the most in- 
telligent and enterprising men to an earl}^ sepulchre. 
To avoid the loss of human life, a loss so painful to 
private ajffection, is a most judicious and benevolent 
expenditure. 

As man has much to fear from the passions of his own 
species, he must consume in supporting government. 
The city watchmen who apprehend very few aggress- 
ors, prevent an amount of depredation v*^hich exceeds 
all estimation. The officers of justice, by rendering 
property secure, conduce to the support of millions, 
and give confidence to the variegated operations of 
human society. A good government induces the citi- 



ERGONOMY. 113 

zens to make permanent investments in great and 
profitable pursuits 

An expenditure for promoting piety, has copious 
and elegant returns. Christianity has an immediate 
advantage as well as a remote influence. By unveil- 
ing a future world and expanding the limits of human 
existence, it tends, in a proportionate degree, to aug- 
ment the grandeur and enlarge the sphere of human 
agency. Immense advantages are derived from it to 
every clime, where it prevails in its purity. It has 
contributed to give Europe and America a prodigious 
superiority over Asia and Africa. It rises, like a 
finer sun, to quicken moral vegetation, to replenish 
humanity with embellishments, to curb the fury of the 
passions, to form public manners from reverential duty, 
to infuse tranquility by an implied confidence of se- 
curity from unbridled ferocity. 

Literary consumptions return in improved arts and 
sciences. Affixing syllables to roots, gives richness 
and harmon}^, and expresses various modifications of 
thought, without tedious circumlocutions or incom- 
modious appendages. Eor the want of proper inflec- 
tions, the Chinese are unable to avail themselves of 
European arts and sciences. Science, by literary 
assistances, has reared its head to the heavens. Lit- 
erature facilitates science by giving precision to 
words, and permanency to thoughts. The language 
of poetry, by imprinting itself with energy, retains 
philosophic precepts with facility ; and, at an early 
period in history, legislators, priests, and philoso- 
phers, adopted poetry as the language of instruction. 
In the lowest servitude and depression, the Byzan- 



114 ERGONOMY. 

tines possessed a language for unlocking the treasures 
of antiquity ; and its revival, after an oblivion of 
several hundred years, dift\ised a purer style of com- 
position, excited a more rational strain of sentiment, 
and caused the arts and sciences to flourish in 
Europe. 

To consume in philosophic investigations, is an 
elaborative facility to enlightened nations. As the 
cultivation of one science improves those which are 
contiguous, the benefit returns in many contributary 
streams. The close affinity which the ancients sup- 
posed to exist among the muses, is apparent among 
the sciences. Every advantage which is conferred 
upon a single member, advances the whole family. 
One science furnishes instructive analogies for an- 
other ; and the remotest facts often lead to brilliant 
discoveries. The path of science, when first smoothed 
in its lower steps, is easily ascended to its summit. 
A minute penetration into the laws of nature, rewards 
man with noble discoveries ; and laborious inductions 
exemplify the beautiful simplicity which emerges from 
a seemingly entangled mass. Many sciences are now 
in general use, many others are fast coming into 
notice, and many experimentalists are solving the 
grandest problems. 

The arts derive benefit from science, and from their 
own close affinities. The moderns, dealing in compre- 
hensive principles, are carrying the benefits of induc- 
tion into every pursuit. The arts which were the 
offspring of necessity, have been improved by science ; 
and a casual hint often leads to inventions which pro- 
duce results beyond human calculation. Art some- 



E R G N M Y. 115 

times precedes science ; but, even in that case, science 
rolls back upon art Avitli redoubled energy. Modern 
science substitutes intelligence for physical force, and 
accomplishes the grandest purposes by mechanical 
contrivances, or by chemical agencies. Vegetable 
physiology promotes medicine, agriculture, and the 
useful arts. It teaches the best mode of applying 
healing substances, of managing plants, of fixing the 
most brilliant and unfading dyes. It enables us to 
preserve skins, to correct noxious acidity, to counter- 
act virulent poisons. By the science of animated 
nature, acids are extracted from animal secretions, 
and a most beautiful dye is furnished by an insect. 
The usefulness of the bee, silk-worm, and Spanish fly, 
is a prelude to many useful qualities which genius 
may yet discover among the insect tribes. Fossils 
furnish cement, fertilize the earth, and mitigate au- 
tumnal fevers. Since chemistry has taken rank with 
the sciences, art has pressed forward with the most 
rapid strides. The new companionship of science and 
art is still accomplishing the happiest and most pro- 
fitable results. 

The physician has become acquainted with the func- 
tions of the human body, the nature of diseases, and 
the properties of medicinal substances. He examines 
elementary tissues, and their mode of union, the vital 
organs, and their mutual dependencies. He discovers 
diseased manifestations, the mechanism of disordered 
actions, and the particular ingredients which are de- 
ficient or excessive in the fluids. He learns the mode 
of administering chemical remedies, of conforming to 
unexpected vicissitudes. He knows what medicines 



116 ERGONOMY. 

may be administered together with safety, and learna 
the hidden movements from the condition of a single 
secretion. He is enabled to arrest the successive 
undulations of disordered actions, before they re- 
cede too far from the first point of agitation, before 
their mutual influences expand throughout the whole 
economy. 

The improvement in the art of working metals, has 
resulted from machinery and chemical agents. The 
mass of cinders accumulated during seven centuries, 
is no more than that which accumulates around a 
modern furnace in as many months. A single fur- 
nace makes seventy-five tons of iron a week, enough 
for three million knife blades. To render the iron 
malleable, requires a far greater force tiian the unaid- 
ed strength of every man in Britain. Machinery with 
inanimate forces is employed, " without which no one 
could obtain a spade for less than the price of a year's 
labor." Nations without science, though ore is abun- 
dant, are without iron. " Without thinking and in- 
venting, all the men that ever lived could never 
procure it ; and without machinery to lighten the 
labor, no ingenuity could procure it at a thousand 
times the expense." The cast-iron annually manu- 
factured in England, is six hundred thousand tons. 

Glass was sparingly employed in the windows of 
private dwellings until the seventeenth century. Only 
a century ago, many houses in England and the United 
States were lighted through paper, horn, or mica. 
Tumblers and decanters now ornament tables in the 
place of pewter cups and stone jugs. Rude nations 
dry their vessels in the sun ; civilized nations beau- 



ERGONOMY. 117 

tify them with elegant paintings. Less than seventy- 
five years ago, England manufactured only a small 
quantity of the coarsest crockery, now she exports 
annually forty million pieces, many of which are of 
a very fine quality. 

Agricultural chemistry relates to living plants, to 
the spontaneous changes of organic substances, to the 
chemical conditions which are essential to vegetable 
life and development. Each acquisition derived from 
the lessons of nature, is a prelude to further attain- 
ments in its complex and concordant workings. As 
the nature of soils, animals, and vegetables, is investi- 
gated from every available information, civilized soci- 
ety is beginning to profit by organic chemistry. The 
pathway from the laboratory to the plantation, is trod- 
den in modern times ; and a small expenditure in the 
art of agriculture, returns with accumulated profits. 

A century ago, the fields in Scotland yielded scanty 
crops, and manufactures scarcely existed. Oats and 
barley were alternately sown ; and the best soils were 
ravaged by sheep, which required the richest pastures. 
After seed time, the farmer was employed in weeding 
his fields, and providing winter fuel. Tillage afforded 
straw to support a fevr cattle ; and before spring, the 
neighbors frequently met to lift their cows, or to draw 
them out of the bogs, " into which they had been 
tempted by the first appearance of vegetation." The 
existing Scotch farmers are distinguished for genteel 
and comfortable living ; and the laborers, in their well- 
furnished cottages, enjoy an elegance to which noble- 
men were formerly strangers. 

Among the Greeks and Romans, spinning was the 



118 ERGONOMY. 

cliief employment of females ; and the duties of a Trife 
were symbolized by the distaff and fleece. Spinning, 
through successive inventions, is performed almost 
entirely b}^ machinery. Warping was first performed 
upon pins, then upon a revolving frame, then upon a 
machine which stops when a single thread breaks. 
The Indians of South America, according to Ulloa, 
take up each thread by the hand, and spend three 
years in weaving a hammock. Muslins are manufac- 
tured in India in nearly the same manner as in the 
earliest ages. The weaver spreads his web under a 
tree, uses his toes for treadles and his shuttle for a 
batten. The steam-engine, the spinning-jenny, and 
the power-loom, have altered the face of civilization. 
The cloth manufactured in a single district of Eng- 
land by two hundred and seventy-two thousand hands, 
would, under the old system, have required sixty- 
seven million operatives, nearly three times more 
than the whole kino-dom contains. 

o 

Fabrics previously vvorn only by the affluent, now 
compose the ordinary vestments. In England, thirty 
persons can afford to wear cotton, where one could 
thirty years ago. From the rapid improvement in 
the quality and quantity of woolens, a suit which 
was purchasable only by a gentleman, is now within 
the means of the humblest laborer. Three or four 
centuries ago, not one in Ave hundred could bear the 
expense of knit hose ; now. since the introduction of 
machinery, so few are without them that a destitution 
indicates the abjectest poverty. 

" To print a piece of calico by hand, the block must 
be applied four hundred and forty-eight times, for 



E R N M Y. 119 

each color." With a machine, " one man, with three 
children," can " turn off as much work as twenty men 
and twenty children in the ordinary block-printing." 
The piece rolls through the cylinder, and is printed in 
four or five minutes. Calicoes, seventy years ago, 
cost more than seven times as much as at the pre- 
sent day. The humbler classes have the means of 
neatness and gayety ; and the cottage is provided 
with handsome furniture for beds, windows, and 
tables. An air of elegance is thrown over society, 
appearing in dress, habitations, and manners. 

About the middle of the last century, the cylinder 
for comminuting rags was invented in Holland, and 
adopted in France, England, and America. The end- 
less web preserves a uniform thickness, leaves no de- 
fective sheets, a,nd works in any season. Printing ink 
was formerly put on by stuffed balls ; afterwards, by 
a roller, which did the work with more exactness and 
rapidity. Thirty years ago, a number of the English 
Quarterly Review was printed in three months ; now 
it is printed in twice as many days. 

Printing has created much of the art and science 
which adorns and enriches civilized nations. This 
art which seems to defy the havoc of time and bar- 
barism, has secured scientific and literary longevity. 
A small volume, such as can now be printed in a few 
hours, could not formerly be transcribed for less than 
twenty dollars. A sum which formerly purchased 
fifty volumes, now purchases a thousand. The copy- 
ist of ancient times, sometimes spent fifty years in 
transcribins: a sino-le Bible. Eive hundred dollars 
t^ere paid for a single manuscript concordance, and 



120 E R G N M Y. 

the same price per volume for a copy of the works of 
Livy. The royai library of Paris, -which, in the four- 
teenth century, contained nine hundred and nine vol- 
umes, then an extraordinary number, now contains 
more than four hundred thousand volumes. 

In the infancy of society, materials were deposited 
in buildings by human strength. No sledges, carts, 
scaffolds, cranes, or machines, were used by the Mexi- 
cans and Peruvians. They broke stones with flints, 
polished them by friction, and constructed magnificent 
edifices. The labor expended in raising and fastening 
the stones of the great pyramid of Egypt, might be 
performed by thirty thousand men, using a steam 
engine, in a single day. Masses of stone are now 
separated by powder, conveyed on carriages, and 
raised into edifices almost without human interven- 
tion. An uncivilized country, with as many inhab- 
itants as Britain, contains only ten thousand houses. 
Britain contains two hundred and fifty times that 
number, the poorest of which are more commodious 
than the finest among the barbarians. 

Architectural styles descend by hereditary success- 
ion ; and many ancient specimens, by violating philo- 
sophic principles, have been doomed to premature ruin. 
Strong cements, or iron clamps, were required to retain 
the stones in the Roman walls. The lower portions 
of a dome, if too vertical, are liable to separation. 
Moorish arches were liable to be pressed inwards. 
Gothic arches were unsuitable for sustaining lateral 
pressures, and groined vaults threw the pressure un- 
equally along the walls. 

To collect books and antiques, to found professor- 



ERGONOMY. 121 

ships, to patronize men of learning, became almost 
universal passions in Florence. During this mag- 
nificent period of the fine arts, the revenue of the 
republic was a larger sum than the grand duke of 
Tuscany now derives from a much larger territory. 
The woolen manufactures, which employed two hun- 
dred factories and thirty thousand operatives, annu- 
ally sold for twelve hundred thousand florins. Two 
banking houses, out of eighty which conducted the 
commercial operations, advanced to Edward the Third 
upwards of three hundred thousand marks. The city 
and its environs contained one hundred and seventy 
thousand inhabitants ; and of the ten thousand child- 
ren in the schools, six hundred received a learned 
education. Every place to which trade extended, 
from the Tigris to the Clyde, was ransacked for 
models and manuscripts. The villas, marts, ports, 
arsenals, museums, and libraries of the enlightened 
states of Italy, in the age of Lorenzo the Magnificent, 
were filled with plenty, comfort, and elegance. The 
Appenines were covered to their very summits with 
rich cultivation; and the Po, which wafted the har- 
vest of Lombardy to the granaries of Venice, returned 
the silks of Bengal and the furs of Siberia to the pal- 
aces of Milan. 

England has advanced under very heavy expendi- 
tures. Cgesar found a barbarous people clothed with 
skins, lodged in hovels, and sustained by a few herds. 
In the ninth century, Alcuin, an abbot with ten thou- 
sand vassals, preferred his smoky house to the palaces 
of Italy. In the fourteenth century, the town of Col- 
chester, containing three hundred and ninety house- 

6 



122 ERGONOMY. 

keepers, with thirty different tradesmen, was assessed 
at little more than five hundred pounds. The carpen- 
ter's tools, consisting of two broad-axes, an adze, a 
square, and a spoke-shave, were estimated at one 
shilling. The mercer's stock, comprising "a piece 
of woolen cloth, some silk and fine linen, silk purses, 
gloves, girdles, leather purses, and needle work," was 
estimated at three pounds. The furniture of the most 
opulent, " was a bed, a brass pot, a brass cup, a grid- 
iron, and a towel." 

In the fifteenth century, " there were very few 
chimneys, even in the capital towns." " The houses 
were wattled, and plastered over with clay ; and all 
the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people 
slept on straw pallets, with a log of wood for a pil- 
low." To keep out the winds, the nobility hung cur- 
tains against the walls ; and " the country houses, 
instead of glass, did use much lattice, and that made 
either of wicker, or fine rifts of oak, in checkerwise." 
Rags, for making paper, were difficult to obtain ; the 
clergy alone wore white linen ; sumptuous garments 
descended from generation to generation ; and the 
lord of the town " lay seldom on a bed of feathers." 
" Every thing nauseous" lay under the rushes ; and 
" Becket was reputed extravagantly nice, because he 
had his parlor every day strewed with clean straw." 

In the sixteenth century, the duke of Northumber- 
land seems to have occupied three country seats, and 
to have had furniture only for one. " No mention is 
any where made of plate ; but only of the hiring of 
pewter vessels. The servants seem all to have bought 
their own clothes from their wages." This family. 



ERGONOMY. 128 

consisting of two hundred and twenty members be- 
sides invited guests, consumed sixty gallons of mus- 
tard, ninety-one dozen candles, eighty chaldrons of 
coals, and seventy ells of coarse linen, in a year. 
Only two cooks were employed, and only forty shil- 
lings expended for washing, and that principally upon 
the linen of the chapel. The establishment consumed 
very few vegetables, and, with the exception of a short 
time, lived upon salt meat during the whole year. No 
poultry was allowed, except for the duke's " own mess ;" 
but no plovers were allowed even for that purpose, ex- 
cept at " Christmas and other principal feasts." Any 
servant who was absent a single day, had his mess 
struck off, and every ham or fish was required to be 
cut into the precise number of pieces. 

According to Fortesque, the peasantry ate apples, 
brown bread, a little lard, or the entrails of beasts 
slain for nobles and merchants. The opulent, though 
they used meat, had very few delicacies. In the reign 
of Edward the Sixth, the students of Cambridge dined 
on pottage made' of a farthing's worth of beef, with a 
little salt and oat meal. Harrison states that " the 
gentry commonly provide themselves sufficiently with 
wheat for their own tables ;" but " their households 
and neighbors must content themselves with barley, 
peas, or oats." Though corn was in the market, the 
artificer could only obtain " horse corn," " tares, and 
lentiles." 

In the reign of Elizabeth, the households of the 
gentry lived on rye or barley, with peas, or oats mixed 
with acorns. A maid of honor sometimes had roast 
beef; a peasant could only indulge in gruel. Only 



124 ERGONOMY. 

the most opulent could afford a potato or a radish* 
The queen's wardrobe was collected from Europe and 
Asia ; the clothing of the commonalty was coarse and 
comfortless. Though the houses of the gentry began 
to improve, the peasantry still lived in clay hovels. 
Servants lay on straw without sheets ; and the pewter 
consisted only of dishes, pots, or a few other utensils. 

Ninety years ago, half the people fed on rye, bar- 
ley, or oats, with a little hone3^ Sixty years ago, a 
rich family in Cumberland only used a peck of Avheat 
during the year ; and, in the richest counties, barley 
bread was the common food of the smaller farmers and 
common laborers. Wheat bread is now almost univer- 
sally eaten in the poorest districts ; and the consump- 
tion of meat, butter, and cheese, has increased in 
nearly a double ratio to population. Wheat bread 
is afforded to the parish poor ; and vegetables, now 
so common, were not formerly found on the most lux- 
urious tables. Great Britain, though noted for pro- 
digality, has so much unconsumed commodities, that 
a merchant proposed to purchase Palestine, where 
Solomon once reigned over a numerous and opulent 
people. 

Only a century ago, the common people of Scotland 
were coarsely cloathed, meanly fed, and rudely lodged. 
The want of food was often so severely felt, that they 
bled their cattle for subsistence, and repaired to the 
shore for shell-fish. Their stone and mud-houses 
were thatched with fern, and filled with smoke and 
soot. To live on the refuse of the flock, to construct 
their own furniture, was the lot which awaited the 
peasantry. The farm-houses of the Lothians were 



ERGONOMY. 125 

thronged by mendicants ; and the opulent in Glasgow 
purchased a poor-beef to last them during the year. 

The United States advanced with such rapid strides, 
that " nothing in the history of mankind is like their 
progress." A few years ago they were thrown out on 
" the shores of a desolate wilderness, three thousand 
miles from all civilized intercourse." A Connecticut 
farmer, only sixty years ago, subsisted on pork, beans, 
Indian corn, maple sugar, and corn-stalk molasses, 
with tea and wheat bread on extraordinary occasions. 
His family was clothed in coarse linen or woolen gar- 
ments ; and his utensils were a frying pan, an iron 
pot, wooden trenchers and cups. At the present day, 
wheat bread, fresh meat, sugar and coffee, and garden 
vegetables, are used throughout the year. His family 
is clothed with delicate fabrics, his cooking utensils 
are neat and commodious, his table is furnished with 
fine crockery or elegant porcelain, and his rooms are 
adorned with tasteful drapery and beautiful carpets. 

Consumptions for mental illuminations, perform 
many wonderful cycles before their final extinction. 
The prodigies of art, which, when predicted in the 
closet, received only ridicule, are now committed to 
history. " Incredulity is disarmed of its weapons as the 
fiend of old was by the spell of the sorceress." Art 
has invented arms as formidable as the lance of 
Astolfo ; buildings as sumptuous as the palace of 
Aladdin ; fountains as wonderful as the golden waters 
of Parizade ; and conveyances as rapid as the hippo- 
gryph of Reggiezo. Philosophy is producing effects 
such as superstition never ascribed to the incantations 
of Merlin. 



126 EEGONOMY. 

Davy, the celebrated chemist, declared it to be just 
as possible to " cut a slice from the moon" as to light 
the streets of London with gas. Now, respectable 
towns and cities, though remote from coal fields, are 
adorned with this brilliant illumination. Only a few 
years ago, the learned Lardner asserted that no steam 
vessel could ever cross the Atlantic. Now, steam- 
ships are regularly passing, and triumphantly encoun- 
terino; frightful hurricanes and storms. " Francis For- 
tune, who predicted that a run from Bristol to London, 
would be made upon a rail in four hours, was shunned 
as a maniac." Now, that distance is traveled over in 
a little less than two hours. Nature has yet in re- 
serve for man completer instruments, higher posts of 
observation, and an augmented number of observers 
prepared for brilliant conquests. The next fifty years 
may look back upon our age as possessing comparative 
imbecility. 

Philosophy is always progressing, and only its first 
fruits are visible. " A point," says Macauley, " which 
yesterday was invisible, is its goal to day, and will be 
its starting post to morrow." Locomotives are im- 
proving in economy, speed, and safety; and gun- 
cotton, the consumption of which is constantly in- 
creasing, is already used to propel machinery. The 
telegraph already stretches several thousand miles, 
and seems destined to encircle the globe. "Magic 
wires," says Calhoun, "are stretching themselves in 
all directions over the earth, and when their mystic 
meshes shall have been united and perfected, our globe 
itself will become endowed with sensitiveness ; so that 
whatever touches on any one point, will be instantly 



ERGONOMY. 127 

felt on every other." Such consumption will be " one 
of the great means of ushering in the happy period 
foretold by inspired prophets and poets, when war shall 
be no more." 



CHAPTER VII. 



TASTE. 



A DIVERSITY of taste prevents dreary sameness, 
and gives a rich variety to human pursuits. The 
mind is delighted in the chaste simplicity of Attic 
grace, in the wild luxuriance of Oriental pomp, or in 
the stupendous grandeur of Gothic magnificence. As 
desire can only be gratified to the extent of his labor, 
each person's taste is indicated by the commodities 
■which he chooses to possess. Each, according to his 
peculiar fancy, delights in costly edifices, sculptures, 
and paintings, tasteful cemeteries, elegant furniture, 
delicate food, splendid equipage, personal ornaments, 
or literary embellishments. This variety, in its mi- 
nutest shades, is included in the comprehensive in- 
duction. 

I. The ancients erected strong fortifications, stately 
towers, beautiful temples, splendid palaces, and ele- 
gant mansions. This architecture was noted for im- 
movable firmness, gigantic height, and prodigal splen- 
dor. The walls of Troy are celebrated in song and 
story as the work of supernatural beings ; and Pa- 
lenque, the ruins of which are twenty miles in cir- 
cumference, was surrounded with stupendous walls 
and fortifications. The round tower of Rhode Island 



ERGONOMY. 129 

is a mystery to the inhabitants ; and the uses of the 
seven round towers of Ireland, are unknown in history. 
The monuments of Copan, standing in the depths of a 
tropical forest, are strange in design, rich in ornament, 
and excellent in sculpture. The large cities of India, 
as a characteristic feature, exhibit large domes, and 
high octagonal towers or spires. One monarch built 
a hunting palace, " fifty sluices, forty mosques, thirty- 
five hospitals, one hundred tombs, ten baths, ten 
spires, one hundred and fifty wells or fountains, one 
hundred bridges, and innumerable pleasure gardens." 
The Persians, for the celebration of their sacred rites, 
surrounded an open area with columns without archi- 
traves or roofs. Persepolis, Paestum, Babylon, Nin- 
eveh, Sidon, Tyre, Aradus, Sarepta, and Jerusalem, 
had magnificent architecture. 

1. The wandering Tartars, who were attached to the 
soil by a frail tenure, suited their buildings to their 
nomadic habits. The humble tent, so suitable to their 
necessities, gave rise to a style of architecture which 
is still in use among their more opulent posterity. 
Chinese dwellings, as represented on their porcelain, 
exhibit the tent, which is advanced to the pavilion, as 
the most prominent feature. The concave roof resem- 
bles canvas, and the portico imitates the awnings 
before shops. The temples which are profusely scat- 
tered over the empire, are enriched with the most 
gorgeous ornaments. The architecture of the Arabi- 
ans is richly ornamented with stucco and mosaic. 
The Turkish minaret is a tall slender tower of a 
peculiar style. 

The tower of Nankin, an octagon of nine stories, is 

6* 



130 ERGONOMY. 

covered on the outside with porcelain, the enameling 
of which appears like gold, emeralds, and rubies. A 
large gold pine-apple surmounts the pinnacle ; and, at 
each story, is a gallery with green roofs and gilded 
pillars, from which suspended bells sound sweetly in 
the breeze. The temple of Honam is entered through 
an avenue of colossal statues. " Lacquered pillars, set 
in sockets of granite, support the fanciful eaves of the 
roof, which is decorated at the angles with dragons." 
" Pillars of gold and crimson, covered with inscriptions 
and ornaments," shoot up " to sustain the carved and 
painted ceiling ;" and " lanterns of horn and glass, set 
in exquisite frames and hung by silken cords," depend 
" from the interlacing web of rafters." 

2. The Egyptian style, originating in the mound, 
has massive walls sloping inwards, and is studded 
with columns decorated with various capitals. This 
colossal architecture, which seems destined for anti- 
quities, looms up as expressive records of physical 
and intellectual strength in hoary antiquity. A pyr- 
amid, the capacity of which is six million feet, rises 
four hundred and sixty-four feet above the plain. 
The portals of the temple at Cnuphis, are sixty feet 
in height ; and the columns of the portico of Her- 
mopolis are thirty feet in circumference. The gate- 
way to the temple of Luxor, is more than two hundred 
feet in length, and rises more than sixty feet above 
the sand. The temple of Carnac, which is twelve 
hundred feet long, is approached through twelve rows 
of sphynxes. Columns fifty feet in height stand in 
the court in front ; then a portico of one hundred and 
thirty columns, averaging twenty-eight feet in diame- 



E R G N M Y. 131 

ter. The walls are covered with sculptures which 
illustrate the uses of the sanctuary, and the ceiling 
is studded with stars on a blue ground. Other edi- 
fices, connected with the grand temple by colonnades 
and porticoes, form the Carnatic ruins. In the large 
temple of Dendera, the sculptures are necessary to 
the grand design. A large cornice contains the head 
of Isis, and a large torus encircles the whole building. 
The head of Isis, and occasionally the globe and 
wings, form the capitals. The interior is splendidly 
decorated with illustrations of religion, astronomy, 
and social life. 

The architecture of the ancient. Hindoos at Ele- 
phanta, EUora, and Salsette, exhibit the Egyptian 
character, consisting of temples carved out of solid 
rocks. Subterranean chapels contain colossal statues 
sculptured on the walls, representing Hindoo deities 
and fabulous history. Seven temples among the 
ruins of a city, are excavated in solid rock, with 
sculptures representing animals. One consists of a 
solid pyramid upon a double terrace ; and the gallery 
on the top has a gilt umbrella, fifty-six feet in circum- 
ference. Petra, a city of the Arabian desert, has ex- 
cavated temples, palaces, and tombs. Architecture, 
excavated in subterranean rocks, is found in Mexico 
and Japan. The columns of the ancient mosque of 
Decca, of a light and airy appearance, resemble the 
style of excavated temples. 

The architecture of the Moors is distinguished for 
numerous arches and flowery decorations. The Al- 
hambra, a correct type of the most gorgeous oriental 
palaces, appears more like fairy than human archi- 



132 ERGONOMY. 

tecture. A court, in the centre of which is a deep 
marble basin, is surrounded by an arcade with marble 
and mosaic incrustations. The walls and ceilings are 
covered with beautiful festoons, sculptures richly gilt, 
and painted arabesque. The court, in which twelve 
lions support an immense basin, is surrounded by a 
colonnade of white marble, and paved with colored tiles. 
The light pillars are grouped, and the walls and ceil- 
ings are covered with gold, stucco, and brilliant colors. 
In the hall of Abencaroges, receding ornaments are 
illuminated in gradations with leaf gold, pink, light 
blue, and dusky purple. 

3. Grecian buildings, which are improvements of 
wooden cabins, furnish models for modern architec- 
ture. These originally rude edijfices gave rise to the 
orders of architecture, or the proportioning and deco- 
rating the column and its architrave. Each of the 
orders is named after the country in which it arose. 
The Doric possesses a masculine dignity ; the Ionic 
exhibits a feminine gracefulness ; and the Corinthian 
displays a profuse and delicate elegance. As the 
richness of the Corinthian capitals rendered them too 
expensive of general adoption, the ancients employed 
them in buildings in which elegance, gayety, and mag- 
nificence, were required ; such as temples dedicated to 
Venus, Flora, Proserpine, and the river and fountain 
nymphs. 

The most perfect specimen of the Doric, is the Par- 
thenon ; and the most beautiful specimens of the 
Ionic, are the temple on the Ilissis, and the temples 
of Neptune and Minerva on the Acropolis. The 
finest specimens of the Corinthian, are the monument 



ERGONOMY. 133 

of Lysicrates in Greece, and the three columns of the 
Campo Vacino in Rome. The temples of Athens, 
Corinth, and Paestum, were magnificent edifices : and 
the temple of Ephesus, so highly celebrated, was re- 
spected by successive dynasties. The sepulchral mon- 
ument of Mausolus was surrounded by thirty-six 
columns, and the pyramid over it was surmounted 
by a chariot drawn by four horses. The vast expense 
of this monument caused Anaxagoras to exclaim : 
" How much money changed into stones." The pal- 
aces of Egypt, the fanes of Syria, and the temples of 
Idumea, were adorned with Grecian architecture. 

4. Gothic architecture is modeled from groves under 
which the Druids performed their sacred rites. It 
consists of large buttresses, clustered pillars, profuse 
ornaments, pointed arches, pinnacles, and spires. The 
splendid Gothic edifices of Europe, springing into be- 
ing from the necessities and convenience of the splen- 
did ritual of the church, have ornaments entirely at 
variance with classic taste. The Gothic style, at first 
emplx3yed in sacred architecture, was afterwards intro- 
duced into palaces. 

The cathedral of Fryburg has arched windows ; 
roses in a vast labyrinth of intertwisted ramifica- 
tions ; balusters interwoven with contortions, and sur- 
mounted by ornamental pinnacles ; elegant niches with 
figures surmounted by canopies ; pillars with capitals 
of varied foliage ; flying buttresses and angles adorn- 
ed with flowers and buds ; a staircase winding up by 
numberless slender pillars ; rain-spouts in figures of 
men, animals, and allegoric personages. The cathe- 
dral of Milan, with a front of Grecian and Gothic 



134 ERGONOMY. 

styles incorporated, exhibits a multitude of corridors, 
platforms, parapets, flying buttresses ; a forest of 
spires ; needles, covered with ornaments, shooting out 
over its ample roof. 

After the Norman invasion, the taste of Britain 
began to show itself in devising the Gothic. Circu- 
lar and pointed arches were sometimes intermingled, 
and the windows were divided into several lights by 
muUions branching out at the top into various forms 
of tracery. Ornament after ornament was added, till 
spires, decorated to the very pinnacle, shot up into the 
clouds, and windows of stained glass shed gorgeous 
lights over the profuse interior decorations. West- 
minster Abbey " appears as if the artist had intended 
to give to stone the character of embroidery, and to 
enclose the walls within the meshes of lace-work." It 
is sprigged, fretted, turreted, vaulted, and divided into 
chapels. 

The Romans reared mountains of masonry within 
their capital, for their theatre, amphitheatre, and 
circus. The Pantheon, which extended a marble 
firmament overhead, had walls nineteen feet in 
thickness, with niches for chapels, altars, and sta- 
tues. It was encrusted inside with marble, and cov- 
ered outside with brazen, silver, and gilded plates. 
The capitol, one of the largest and grandest struc- 
tures, was adorned with costly gilding. Buildings of 
great splendor were devoted to legislative and judi- 
cial purposes, to the celebration of religious rites. 
Large buildings were designed for dramatic exhibi- 
tions, naval engagements, and gladiatorial shows. 
One of the buildings sacred to the nymphs, con- 



ERGONOMY, 135 

tained artificial water-falls, and statues of those im- 
aginary beings. Porticoes, one of which contained a 
thousand columns, were adorned with statues, and 
designed for public promenades. Rome, at one time, 
contained more than one hundred palaces belonging to 
private persons, each of which occupied more space 
than a hundred ordinary houses. 

The theatre of Marcus Scaurus, which was embel- 
lished with three hundred and sixty marble columns, 
was capable of holding eighty thousand spectators. 
The amphitheatre of Titus, celebrated for its awful 
grandeur, was an elliptical building " five hundred and 
sixty-four feet in length, and four hundred and sixty- 
seven in breadth, founded on fourscore arches, and 
rising with four successive orders of architecture to 
the height of one hundred and forty feet. The out- 
side of the edifice was encrusted with marble, and 
decorated with statues." The vast concave contained 
eighty rows of marble seats covered with cushions, for 
accommodating eighty thousand spectators. Sixty- 
four vomitories poured forth the immense multitude ; 
" and the entrances, passages, and staircases," " were 
so contrived that each person arrived at his destined 
place without trouble and confusion." The spectators 
" were protected from the sun and rain by an ample 
canopy, occasionally drawn over their heads. The air 
was continually refreshed by the playing of foun- 
tains," which were profusely scented with grateful 
aromatics. The stage "" successively assumed the 
most difi'erent forms. At one moment it seemed to 
rise out of the earth, like the garden of the Hesper- 
ides, and was afterwards broken into rocks and cav- 



136 ERGONOMY. 

erns of Thrace." The subterranean pipes could sud- 
denly convert a level plain " into a wide lake, covered 
with armed vessels, and replenished with the monsters 
of the deep." 

" The baths stood among extensive gardens and 
walks, and often were surrounded with a portico. 
The main building contained halls for swimming and 
bathinor " for conversation and athletic exercises, for 



•65 



declamation and lectures, for every " polite and manly 
amusement." The arts " exhausted their refinements 
on these establishments, which, for their extent, were 
compared to cities." " The baths of Caracalla were 
ornamented with two hundred pillars, and furnished 
with sixteen hundred marble seats." " Those of Dio- 
cletian, surpassing all the others in size and sumptu- 
ousness of decoration," " were enriched with the 
precious collection of the Ulpian library." " Of the 
private baths, the walls were of Alexandrian marble, 
the veins of which were so disposed as to resemble a 
regular picture ; the basins were set round with a 
most valuable kind of stone imported from the Gre- 
cian islands ; the water was conveyed through silver 
pipes, and fell by several descents in beautiful cas- 
cades ; the floors were inlaid with precious gems ; and 
an intermixture of statues and colonnades, contributed 
to throw an air of elegance over the whole." 

Their triumphal arches were supported by splendid 
columns, and covered with historical sculptures. The 
column of Trajan consists (jf thirty-three pieces of 
white marble, secured by clamps of bronze. It is 
ascended inside by a spiral staircase, which is lighted 
by forty-three apertures. The series of sculptures 



ERGONOMY. 137 

runs around the pillar in an ascending spiral riband, 
making twenty-two revolutions, and representing the 
successive victories of Trajan, among which are two 
triumphal processions. The figures, which are repre- 
sented with great spirit, are three thousand in num- 
ber. " A square obelisk of brass" was erected at 
Constantinople. It " was embossed with picturesque 
and rural scenes ; such as birds singing ; rustics 
laboring, or playing on their pipes ; sheep bleating ; 
lambs skipping ; the sea, and a scene of fishing ; little 
cupids laughing, and pelting each other with apples ; 
and on the summit, a female figure turning with the 
slightest breath, and thence denoted the wind's at- 
tendant." 

The villas of the Roman emperors and consuls 
possessed a singular magnificence. Hadrian's villa 
at Tivoli, which was nearly ten miles in circuit, was 
composed of temples, baths, a theatre, and magnificent 
houses for lodging friends, servants, and soldiers. 
The Atheneum, Lyceum, Academy, Poecile, and other 
Grecian buildings, were imitated with very little vari- 
ation. The grounds around the villa were laid out to 
imitate the ideal Elysian fields. 

Some of the Roman aqueducts were more than sixty 
miles long, carried through rocks and over mountains, 
supported on arches sometimes one hundred feet in 
height. Rivers were spanned, lakes drained, light- 
houses erected, and the sea enclosed " within the 
cincture of masonry." Eight bridges across the Tiber 
are enumerated by Victor, and splendid remains of 
bridges are found in Italy, Portugal, and Spain. 
Thirty-one great roads, built of substantial materials, 



138 ERGONOMY. 

traversed Italy, and terminated only with tlie front- 
iers of the empire. " Mountains were perforated, 
and bold arches thrown over the broadest and most 
rapid streams." 

In contrariety to Grecian simplicity, the Romans 
used the most profuse and fantastic ornaments. They 
disfigured " their spoliations from the Greeks" " with 
carvings, dentils, dentricals, drops, and festoons." 
They added the Tuscan order ; and the composite 
order, a combination of the Ionic and Corinthian, 
was employed in their triumphal arches. Their 
buildings possessed splendor, vastness of conception, 
and prodigality of expenditure. The cities of Italy 
were adorned with ancient fragments of Grecian de- 
tails, sometimes piled into incongruous structures, 
sometimes into imposing edifices. The cathedral of 
Rome, which was more than a century in its com- 
pletion, was converted from complexity into elegant 
simplicity. A spacious piazzo and covered galleries, 
wing out from the sides ; and the semicircular porti- 
coes which start from these galleries, sweep round the 
open piazzo with indescribable grandeur. The porti- 
coes are supported by four rows of Doric columns, 
forming a central arcade. Two hundred and eighty 
columns are surmounted with a balustrade, on which 
stands one hundred and ninety-two colossal statues. 

Asiatic cities were decorated with Grecian beauty 
and Roman magnificence. Some of the excavated 
temples of Petra exhibit the Corinthian column ; 
and the Saxons formed their style from the speci- 
mens left by the Romans in Britain. British archi- 
tects were employed to rebuild Autun, in Gaul ; and 



E R G N M Y. 139 

Ambrosius, a British commander,, built a splendid 
palace at Canterbury. The remains of many castles 
and abbeys exhibit rude representations of the Ro- 
man style, and clumsy imitations of the Tuscan, Ionic, 
and composite orders. The castellated entrance tow- 
ers, being composed of dark blue limestone, have mas- 
sive and gigantic features. 

The Greeks, at the expense of domestic convenience, 
devoted vast treasure to temples and other public 
buildings. Marble tiles were terminated by orna- 
mental frontons, alternating with the lions' heads 
over the cornice. Tiles, with a raised border, had 
tiles to cover the juncture, and to form a compact 
frame-work. The water descended through channels, 
and discharged itself through openings in the lions' 
heads. The frontons were either painted or sculp- 
tured, so as to represent leaves, aplustria, or masks. 
Pliny mentions tiles which overlapped like the feath- 
ers in a peacock's train. Tiles of bronze and gilt 
constituted a still more expensive and magnificent 
roof. Athens, in the time of her proudest glory, 
suffered her citizens to wade a stream for want of 
a bridge. 

The Colchians erected houses of logs, filling the 
interstices with chips, moss, and clay. The Gauls, to 
the time of Yitruvius, made walls of dried lumps of 
clay. The Romans originally made walls of canes 
and hurdles covered with clay. Their stone walls 
w^ere diversified by panels ; and their decorative 
painting imitated marble slabs, or various architec- 
tural decorations. Their long galleries and corridors, 
were painted with various kinds of landscapes, or even 



140 ERGONOMY. 

subjects from the poets and the higher walks of his- 
tory. 

The private houses of Attica became elegant, hav- 
ing painted walls and ceilings, mosaic or colored stone 
floors. They usually stood within beautiful enclosures, 
and the doors usually had inscriptions. A narrow pas- 
sage led into the court, which was surrounded on all 
sides by porticoes. Around this court were dormi- 
tories, store rooms, chambers, parlors, libraries, pic- 
ture galleries, banqueting rooms, and apartments for 
attendants, musicians, and actors. Warmth Avas pro- 
duced by fire-places, portable stoves, or chafing dishes. 

In the latter ages of the republic, the Romans 
erected spacious mansions adorned with columns, paint- 
ings, and statues. Thresholds were adorned with 
Numidian marble, and rooms were lined with marble 
slabs. Private houses, in the time of Augustus, had 
marble encrustations, mosaic floors, and decorations in 
ivory, marble, costly wood and precious stones, at- 
tached to the walls, ceilings, and door-posts. The 
hearth, which retained its position after refinement 
had provided a kitchen and dining room, was decora- 
ted on festive occasions with garlands or fillets. The 
houses of Pompeii were numbered, the windows glazed, 
and the rooms adorned with elegant and whimsical 
lamps. 

The walls of small gardens in towns were painted 
in imitation of a rural garden, with the small area 
ornamented with flowers in elegant vases. The 
Greeks cultivated flowers for garlands ; and Plu- 
tarch speaks of setting off" the beauty of roses and 
violets, by planting them side by side with leeks and 



ERGONOMY. 141 

onions. The horticulture under the Ptolemies was, 
according to Longus, "roses, lilies, hyacinths, and 
violets ;" and the principal flowers of the Romans 
seem to have been violets and roses, with crocus, 
narcissus, lily, gladiolus, iris, poppy, and amaranth. 
Mention is made of houses for preserving foreign 
plants, producing flowers out of season, and forcing 
grapes and melons. The sloping sides of raised ter- 
races, were planted with evergreens or creepers, and 
trees and buildings covered with ivy. Their gardens 
were adorned with large trees, fruit trees, clipped 
evergreens, acanthus beds, vines, pyramids, statues, 
and fountains. 

II. The taste of ancient nations is displayed in their 
statuary, paintings, mosaics, and engravings. 

1. The statuary of the Egyptians, like their archi- 
tecture, was executed in the colossal style. Their 
sculpture was attended with nicety in the minutest 
parts ; and statues standing on the pinnacles of tem- 
ples, were finished as if designed for the closest inspec- 
tion. The sphinx represents an animal with a woman's 
head, a lion's body, and an eagle's wings. The largest 
sphinx, situated near the great pyramid, is sculptured 
out of solid granite, with a temple between its paws, 
and a tablet covered with hieroglyphics on its breast. 
For the distance of two miles among the ruins of 
Thebes, the road lies between two rows of colossal sta- 
tues ; and two of them with mitred head-dresses, though 
bedded in sand, are twenty feet above the surface. The 
Hindoos placed colossal statues at the entrance of their 
temples. 

A bronze statue, ninety feet in height, was erected 



142 ' ERGONOMY. 

at Rhodes ; and, according to Pausanias, statues of 
thirty feet and upwards were not uncommon in 
Greece. Phidias was constantly employed in exe- 
cuting statuary, and his greatest work was a colossal 
statue of Jupiter at Olympia. Artists, in the reign 
of Alexander, studied to please the beholder with 
beauty and simplicity, not to astonish him with 
grandeur and majesty. Praxitiles executed two Ve- 
nuses, and many persons made voyages to see the one 
which was purchased by the Cnidians. Lycippus, ac- 
cording to Pliny, executed six hundred sculptures ; and 
his celebrated bronze horses successively adorned Co- 
rinth, Rome, Constantinople, Venice, and Paris. Statues 
adorned the Grecian temples, hills, groves, fountains, 
public squares, private dwellings, country seats, se- 
questered walks, and ornamental gardens. 

Several colossal statues were conveyed from Greece 
to Rome by Lucullus and Fabius Maximus. A statue 
of Jupiter upon the capital, was so large as to be seen 
from the Alban Mount. A bronze statue of Apollo 
was erected in the Palatine Library ; a bronze statue 
of Augustus, in the forum. An equestrian statue of 
Domitian w^as made of gilt bronze, and a marble 
colossus of Nero was one hundred and twenty feet 
in stature. The splendid group of Laocoon, found in 
the baths of Titus, consists of the father and his tAvo 
sons, writhing in the coil of two huge serpents. The 
expression of extreme agony in the features, the strug- 
gle to break the deadly grasp, the cry of distress indi- 
cated by the mouth, the entreating look of the sons, 
are among the most striking traits. The group of 
Niobe and her children, consisting of fifteen figures. 



ERGONOMY. 143 

has a lofty style, uncommon elevation, tragic express- 
ion, and a great variety in the combinations. The 
largest of the ancient groups consists of a bull, two 
youths larger than life, and three small figures. 

An ancient statue, an ideal of youthful beauty, 
represents Apollo just after discharging his arrow at 
the serpent Python, and indicates a noble satisfaction 
in the assurance of victory. The equestrian statue of 
Marcus Aurelius, seems to move forward ; Antinous 
has his head crowned with a garland of lotus flowers ; 
and Elora has a feminine expression, with the most 
elegant drapery. The statue of Aristides, a figure 
" as near perfection" as art can achieve, " stands with 
his arms folded in his cloak, in all the dignity and 
integrity of his character." Wilber Fisk desired that 
" such a dignified personification of integrity," could 
be exhibited " to the youth of America," " to aid in 
elevating their characters, and strengthening their 
principles." 

The sphinx, the river horse, the crocodile, the victo- 
rious charioteers, and the wolf suckling Romulus and 
Remus, with other statuary, adorned Constantinople. 
An ass with his driver, erected by Augustus at Nicop- 
olis, was conveyed to the new capital. An eagle 
holding a serpent in its talons, was a monument to 
Apollonius who delivered Byzantium from venomous 
reptiles. An equestrian statue represented Joshua 
stretching out his hand to stop the sun ; and the 
figures of Belerophon and Pegassus, seemed hardly 
to touch the ground. The Phrygian shepherd was 
represented in the act of presenting to Venus the 
prize of beauty, the apple of discord. Helen was 



144 ERGONOMY. 

delineated " with well-turned feet, snowy arms, rosy 
lipSj bewitching smiles, swimming eyes, arched eye- 
brows, flowing hair," and harmonious figure. The 
manly form of Hercules seemed to be restored t(j 
life ; " his chest ample, his shoulders broad, his limbs 
muscular, his hair curled, his aspect commanding." 
The hero, with " his lion's skin carelessly thrown 
around him, was seated on an osier basket, his right 
leg and arm stretched to the utmost, his left knee 
bent and supporting his elbow, his countenance in- 
dignant and pensive." A colossal statue of Juno, 
which once adorned her temple at Samos, was in 
the attitude of being drawn by four yoke of oxen 
to her palace. A statue of Minerva, thirty feet in 
height, represented with spirit the attitudes and char- 
acter of the martial maid. 

2. Yenus Anadymene of Apelles, purchased by 
Augustus for one hundred talents, was esteemed, from 
its gracefulness of expression, symmetry of form, and 
delicacy of finish, the most faultless performance exe- 
cuted by the Grecian pencil. The works of Aristides 
were in such high repute, that the king of Pergamus 
gave a hundred talents for only one of his pictures ; 
that the tyrant of Elatea paid him for a battle of the 
Persians, in which were a hundred figures, at the rate 
of ten minae for each figure. Mnason gave Asclepio- 
dorus three hundred minae each for twelve pictures ; 
and Aratus, who sent some old pictures to the king 
of Egypt, was presented with one hundred and fifty 
talents in return. Ptolemy Soter employed agents in 
Greece to purchase celebrated paintings ; and Athen- 
seus mentions the pictures of Sicyonian masters, which 



ERGONOMY. 145 

contributed to the display of the celebrated festival of 
Ptolemy Philadelphus at Alexandria. 

Plutarch, in his description of the triumph of Emi- 
Hus, says that the paintings and statues brought by 
him from Greece, required two hundred and fifty 
wagons to carry them in procession, and that the 
spectacle lasted the entire day. Marcellus and Fa- 
bius Maximus carried to Rome no more works of art 
than they deemed necessary to adorn their triumphs, 
or to decorate some public buildings. These spolia- 
tions of Greece and of the Grecian kingdoms, contin- 
ued for about two centuries ; yet, according to Muci- 
anus, Rhodes alone contained more than three thousand 
statues. Mummius, after the conquest of Corinth, 
deported or destroyed more works of art than all 
his predecessors put together. Scaurus transported 
all the public pictures remaining in Sicyon to Rome, 
and adorned his great temporary theatre with three 
thousand statues. Verres ransacked Asia and Achaia, 
and took twenty-seven beautiful pictures from a tem- 
ple at„ Syracuse. 

After Marcellus had displayed the Grecian arts, 
and Mummius had transported the spoils of Achaia 
to Rome, a taste for the fine arts grew into a passion. 
Besides adorning temples and public buildings, pri- 
vate collections were made, and, towards the close 
of the Republic, the houses of the rich had a room 
devoted to paintings and statues. Vitruvius, in the 
time of Augustus, includes the picture gallery among 
the ordinary apartments of a complete mansion. 

3. In the apartments of a ship, the whole fable of 
the Iliad was represented in mosaic. Of the many 



146 ERGONOMY. 

extant mosaics, one represents four doves around the 
rim of a vase ; another, a school of philosophers, and 
the history of Hesione, the daughter of Priam. One 
represents the battle of Issus ; another, an Egyptian 
festival. One contains a representation of a bird so 
small as not to be distinctly visible -without a ma,gni- 
fying glass ; another contains, in the third of a super- 
ficial inch, a duck in form and coloring equaling a 
miniature painting. One represents the games of the 
circus, and the portraits of the muses interspersed 
with real and imaginary figures ; another, a master of 
the chorus instructing his actors, the masks for dis- 
tribution, a female playing on a flute, the Ionic col- 
umns of a portico, garlands hanging in rich festoons, 
a gallery tastefully decorated with figures and vases. 

4, Astronomical calculations, according to Josephus, 
were engraved upon pillars ; and hieroglyphics consti- 
tute a part of the Egyptian temples, walls, and pyra- 
mids. The walls of Babylon, according to ancient 
historians, were covered with hieroglyphics ; and, ac- 
cording to Diodorus, two pillars erected by Semiramis 
portrayed '• all sorts of living creatures, with great art 
and in curious colors." Jerusalem, " in her youth," 
says Ezekiel, " saw men portrayed upon a wall" in 
vermilion. The ten commandments were written on 
stone ; the poems of Orpheus and Hesiod were cut in 
lead ; and Job desires that his " words were graven 
with a pen and lead in the rock." In many sections 
of Oregon, the roclcs contain inscriptions which the 
natives hold in the highest reverence. Engravings 
upon rocks are found in the desert of Idumea ; and a 
rock in Massachusetts seems to record a battle be- 



ERGONOMY. 147 

tween the natives and some foreigners who came to 
the shore in ships. 

Moses was commanded '• to make a plate of pure 
gold and grave upon it, like the engraving of a sig- 
net." Seal rings were worn in the time of Joseph, 
the rudest being engraved upon jasper. Theodore of 
Samos engraved a lyre upon a famous emerald belong- 
ing to Polycrates ; and Pamphilius, a pupil of Praxi- 
teles, engraved upon an emerald a representation of 
Achilles playing upon a lyre. Scipio Africanus seal- 
ed with a sardonyx, it being almost the only gem 
" which left a fair impression, and brought away with 
it no portion of the wax." The names of six tribes of 
Israel were engraved upon an onyx ; the name of one 
tribe upon each of twelve precious stones. 

Gems, being in good preservation, exhibit by the air 
of the etching and the nature of the polish, the ancient 
taste and genius. The figures preserve the memory 
of particular persons, remarkable events, religious 
rites, and civil customs. Some gems contain figures 
singl^e or grouped, with various costumes and append- 
ages, illustrating history, hunting, festivals, and sacri- 
fices ; or arbitrary devices, exhibiting mythologic, al- 
legoric, and imaginary objects. Alexander's head 
appears upon a sardonyx ; Medusa's head upon a 
chalcedony ; the head of Socrates upon a carnelian ; 
Bacchus and Ariadne upon a red jasper ; an Athen- 
ian feast upon a carnelian. A sardonyx, called the 
agate of Tiberius, exhibits the apotheosis of Augustus, 
the captives of various nations, and the investiture of 
a priestess in the family of Tiberius. One gem re- 
presents Tiberius descending from his chariot; an- 



148 ERGONOMY. 

other, Claudius and his family drawn by centaurs ; 
another, Jupiter in his chariot hurling thunderbolts as 
he is driving over the prostrate Titans. 

Homer ascribes heraldic engravings to the Phe- 
nician artists. The ornaments of Helen were richly 
engraved ; and on one golden clasp of Ulysses, was 
engraved a representation of the dolphin which saved 
the life of Telemachus ; on another, a hound in full 
chase after a fawn. The Greeks, who possessed the 
alphabet, never used hieroglyphics, and engraved sig- 
nets and armor with emblematic devices. Painted 
vases, urns of stone, and shallow dishes of brass, are 
found engraved with some mythologic device in a few 
bold lines. 

Engraving, to a limited extent, was cultivated 
among the Celtic and Grothic nations. At Athelney, 
where King Alfred was an exile, was found a jewel of 
filagree w^ork, on which is engraved the head of Hubert 
and a profusion of foliage. In the old English sepul- 
chral monuments are found devices engraved upon 
brass, exhibiting a greatly improved state of the art. 
In the interior of a Mexican pyramid is a plane cov- 
ered with picture writing, containing a history of 
Mexico, a tribute roll of each vanquished chief, and a 
code of their domestic, political, and military institu- 
tions. In the mounds of the valleys of the Ohio and 
Mississippi, are found many engravings. Through the 
long series of years, it did not occur to men to multi- 
ply impressions on parchment or papyrus. 

III. To preserve the dead body from dissolution, the 
Egyptians put it through complicated operations, or- 
namented it with gildings and glass beads, and laid it 



ERGONOMY. 149 

in a coffin adorned with emblematic paintings. Among 
the Gauches, the body was covered with aromatic var- 
nish, enveloped in goatskins, enclosed in a case, and 
deposited in the catacombs. Mummies are found in 
Mexico, Palermo, Bremin, and other places ; and the 
dead bodies of the Incas were carefully preserved by 
the Peruvians. 

Sepulture was regarded by the Greeks as a most 
sacred duty ; for without it they supposed that the 
deceased could not enter the Elysian fields. They 
placed an obolus in the mouth, crowned the head with 
flowers, and dressed the body in a handsome robe. 
Ordinary citizens of Rome were dressed in white 
togas ; magistrates, in their official vestments. Their 
funereal couches were made of ivory, and covered with 
gold and purple. Cremation was practiced by the 
Romans as well as by the Greeks. The bustum in 
the centre of the Campus Martins, was surrounded by 
an iron railing, and planted inside with poplars. The 
relics of the body were placed in earthern, silver or 
gold urns. 

The Christians committed the body to the earth as 
a seed which should decay, and spring up in "immortal 
bloom." The graves were adorned " with flowers and 
redolent plants, just emblems of the life of man, which 
has been compared to those fading beauties whose 
roots, buried in dishonor, rise again in glory." " The 
decaying flowers were afterwards supplanted by holly, 
rosemary, and other evergreens, which overshadowed 
the tombstones. The white rose was planted at the 
grave of a virgin, and her chaplet tied with white 
ribands in token of her spotless innocence, and black 



150 ERGONOMY. 

intermingled to bespeak the grief of the survivors." 
The custom of ornamenting the grave with flowers, 
was " the spontaneous tributes of unlettered affection, 
originating long before art had tasked itself to modu- 
late sorrow into song, or story it on the monument." 

The ancients selected the resting places of the dead 
in the vicinity of cities, in the fields and woods, in the 
excavations of mountains, and by the side of their prin- 
cipal roads. The catacombs of Thebes were formed in 
the passes or glens of their thickly-wooded hills on 
the banks of the Nile ; and those of Memphis, situated 
beyond the lake Acherusia, were called by the Greeks 
the Elysian fields. A portion of the Academic grove 
was devoted to sepulture, and laid out into spacious 
w^alks, ornamented with trees and flowers. The Ro- 
mans buried their dead in the secluded recesses of the 
forests and valleys, and by the side of the Appian 
way. The aboriginal Grermans had woods which were 
dedicated to the dead ; and the rich Israelites placed 
their tombs on the mountains and in the valleys. The 
natives of Asia Minor buried their dead in the vicinity 
of their cities, and erected carved sarcophagi and mag- 
nificent mausoleums. In Turkey, some plain in the 
suburbs of cities is devoted to sepulture ; and the re- 
latives of the departed place at the head and foot of 
the grave a cypress tree. The spot becomes a lovely 
and sequestered grove, which is held inviolate under 
every social and political revolution. 

Among the temples and tombs of Egj^pt, no trace 
of a dwelling is to be seen. The habitations of the liv- 
ing were regarded as brief resting places ; the temples 
and tombs as eternal monuments and mansions. The 



E R G N M Y. 151 

cemeteries of each city embraced a common depository, 
as well as separate tombs for nobler families. The 
sepulchral chambers were built of granite fitted up in 
costly magnificence, and richly ornamented with paint- 
ings. The tombs of the Theban Kings in the Lybian 
mountains, have a room so ornamented with sculptures 
and paintings as to be called " the hall of beauty." 
The sides of all the chambers and corridors are cov- 
ered with sculptures and paintings ; and in the large 
saloon was a sarcophagus of the finest alabaster, 
minutely sculptured, with several hundred figures 
which represent priests, religious processions and 
sacrifices, boats, agricultural scene's, and the most 
prominent events in the monarch's life. " A sudden 
transition," says Belzoni, " from the dreary desert to 
these magnificent tombs," operates " like a scene of 
enchantment." The labyrinth of Egypt, a large and 
complicated cavern with numerous passages, formed a 
series of palaces connected by winding avenues. The 
halls were surrounded with magnificent pillars ; and 
the roofs and walls were encrusted with marble and 
adorned with sculptured figures. It contained, accord- 
ing to Herodotus, three thousand chambers, and the 
lower series aiforded tombs for the monarchs. 

Grecian tombs were preserved by the family, who, 
on certain days, crowned them with garlands. The 
sculptures seldom exhibited death in a direct manner ; 
the head of a horse, signifying departure, was a very 
common representation. Sepulchral chambers found 
near Rome, have niches for depositing the cinerary 
urns, which contain inscriptions with emblematic de- 
vices. The tombs of rich marble were enclosed by 



152 ERGONOMY. 

walls or iron rails, and planted round Tvith trees. 
The subterranean tombs of Etruria, contain rooms and 
corridors branching out in various directions. The 
walls are coated with stucco, and ornamented with 
civic, heroic, and mythologic devices. The monu- 
ments of Christian sepulture, by their inscriptions 
and devices, recall the most interesting associations. 

lY. The opulent classes of Egypt, furnished their 
habitations with elegant tables, ottomans, couches, and 
chairs. The Greeks adorned their wooden tables with 
carvings and metallic plates. They reclined upon 
couches covered with tapestry, fitted up with pillows, 
and highly ornamented with ivory and precious metals. 
They made their bedsteads of solid maple, box-wood, or 
ivory, veneered with elegant wood or tortoise-shell. 
Their bed was stuffed with wool, feathers, or swan's 
down, and covered with sheets, blankets, or elegant 
carpets. The tables of the Romans were made of 
wood, which displayed the greatest variety of elegant 
spots, beautiful waves, and curling veins. Marble 
tables and folding tripods were very common ; and 
the legs were made of carved ivory, white marble, 
or red porphyry. Their couches, the frames of which 
were made of wood, ivory, or metal veneered with tor- 
toise-shell, were stuffed with swan's down, and cov- 
ered with richly embroidered cloth. Their chairs had 
various forms, and distinguished persons were carried 
on sedans. After the importation of the soft luxuries 
of Asia, they made their beds with surpassing rich- 
ness and magnificence. Their costly bedsteads were 
ascended by steps, their pillows were covered with 



ERGO NO MY. 153 

splendid casings, and their purple counterpanes were 
embroidered with gold in the most elegant figures. 

The tapestry of Babylon, even as early as the days 
of Joshua, appears to have excited universal admira- 
tion. Publius Syrus compares a figured Babylonicum 
to a peacock's train ; Martial celebrates the magnifi- 
cence of the Babylonish textures ; Pliny mentions the 
enormous prices paid for them to decorate dining- 
rooms ; and Plutarch speaks of a splendid shawl 
which was bequeathed to the elder Cato. Carpets, 
manufactured at Babylon, Tyre, Sidon, Sardis, Mile- 
tus, Alexandria, Carthage, or Corinth, were spread 
upon floors, hung over doors, or put up as awnings 
or curtains. The finest carpets, sometimes repre- 
senting hunting scenes, were spread upon sofas and 
thrones. A Persian palace, according to Gibbon, 
" was decorated with a carpet of silk, sixty cubits 
in length, and as many in breadth. A garden was 
depictured on the ground ; the flowers, fruits, and 
shrubs, were imitated by the figures of the gold and 
embroidery, and colors of the precious stones ; and 
the ample square was enriched by a variegated and 
verdant border." 

The fishermen of Egypt formed their nets into a 
tent ; and a gauze curtain was expanded over Roman 
beds and couches, to keep out flying insects. Cur- 
tains were used for partitions, concealing statues, 
and decorating the scenes in theatres. Napkins, 
which were used for wiping the fingers, were em- 
broidered, or interwoven with gold. In the time of 
the emperors, the Romans began to cover their tables 
"with linen cloths, some of which were striped with 



154 ERGONOMY. 

gold and purple. Damask table-cloths were very 
ancient, and could be drawn up after meals to pre- 
serve the crumbs. Table-linen was so rare in Eng- 
land in the fourteenth century, that each table-cloth 
made for the nobility and gentry, cost thirteen 
pounds 

Mirrors had a handle for convenience at the toilet ; 
and those made of a mixture of copper and tin, were 
usually accompanied with a sponge and pounded pum- 
ice stone. Glass mirrors, though manufactured at 
Sidon in the time of Pliny, seem not to have come 
into general use. The obsidian stone was suitable 
for mirrors, but Nero had a mirror made of an eme- 
rald. The chamber of Yenus, in Claudian's descrip- 
tion, was covered with mirrors so that she could see 
her image in every direction. Domitian had a gal- 
lery lined with mirrors, which showed every thing 
which was going on behind his back. 

The Romans had stoves for mulling wines, and 
moulds for making pies. They used strainers of 
broom, rushes, linen, or bronze, with perforations form- 
ing an elegant pattern. Their vessels for cooling 
wine were adapted to the purpose ; and utensils call- 
ed " self-boiling," are spoken of by Cicero as among 
the most costly Corinthian and Delian vessels. A 
large flat ladle with holes, was used for taking vege- 
tables out of the pot, or for dispelling the froth from 
the surface. Wine bottles were covered with leather, 
and basins and pots had lids with beautiful ornaments. 
Drinking horns were adorned with the heads of birds 
or beasts ; silver bowls, with ivy leaves, or inserted 
mirrors. Nero gave three hundred talents for a 



E R G N O M Y. 155 

cup ; and mention is made of a cup cut out of a 
single agate, and richly engraved with numerous re- 
presentations. Small plates and large dishes were 
used at the table for containing bread, meat, and 
fruit. An amber dish represented the countenance 
and history of Alexander ; and a plate of white mar- 
ble, not more than a quarter of an inch in thickness, 
was sculptured with a female figure, a floating scarf, 
and an ivy wreath. The castors, made of materials 
according to the circumstances of the possessor, were 
adorned with elegant figures. 

The Spartans refused to indulge in metallic ves- 
sels, and the Persians condemned persons to drink 
out of fictile vessels as a punishment. The Atheni- 
ans excelled in fine pottery ; and the Tuscans, though 
less tasteful than the Athenians, executed clay statu- 
ary, with which the Romans adorned their most cele- 
brated temples. The Romans resorted to Samos for 
their necessary articles, and, after their possession of 
metallic vessels, looked upon pottery with veneration. 
Murrhine vases came from Parthia, and Pliny speaks 
of a truila which cost three hundred talents. Vessels 
for mixing Avine were somtimes supported by colossal 
statues, and adorned with projecting griffons. The 
Warwick vase, a production of Lysippus, is made of 
sculptured glass, adorned with elegant figures in high 
relief. " Vines, leaves, tendrils, fruits, and stems," 
form " the rim and handles." It holds two hundred 
gallons, and in size, form, and beauty, is the most re- 
markable vessel handed down from antiquity. The 
Portland vase is a deep blue, semi-transparent urn, 
with opaque white ornaments, cut by the lapidary on 



156 ERGONOMY. 

colored grounds. It has two curiously wrought han- 
dles, with sculptures in the greatest perfection. The 
figures are full of grace and expression, every stroke 
as fine, sharp, and perfect as any drawn by a pencil. 

The discovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii, intro- 
duces the moderns to the Roman taste and customs. 
Among the elaborations, are mosaics, decorated pave- 
ments, elegant shells, statues, candelabras, lamps, 
vases, calefactors, tripods, beds, chairs, shields, ket- 
tles, saucepans, gridirons, ladles, spoons, bowls, and 
irons, mirrors, inkstands, weights, steelyards, dice, 
almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, pill-boxes, surgical instru- 
ments, combs, toothpicks, curling-irons, and pots of 
rouge with delicate brushes. 

"The Roman knight," says an elegant writer, "at 
morning threw off his coverlet wrought with needle 
work at Babylon, and raised the tapestry of Tyre 
which hung before the entrance of his chamber. He 
entered his bath-room, the walls of which glistened 
with the marble of Alexandria, beautifully adorned 
with Numidian carvings. He ascended to his dining- 
room, furnished with Grecian statuary and pictures, 
and sank upon his Persian couch." "He wrote his 
letters upon paper from the land of the Ptolemies, and 
read from parchment manufactured at Pergamos. He 
anointed himself with the perfumes of Arabia the 
Happy. The iron of Spain served him for weapons. 
His dice were made from the ivory of India. He won 
his races with the horses of Epirus. Around the neck 
of his wife hung pearls from the German Ocean. His 
funeral litter was borne by slaves from beyond the 
Mediterranean, his lifeless remains turned to dust 



ERGONOMY. 157 

in a tomb of porphyry quarried in the island of the 
iEgean." 

V. After necessity ceases, the diversity of food 
arises from a diversity in taste, which is much modi- 
fied by climate, custom and religion. The refreshing 
fruits of the torrid zone are grateful aliments to the 
native inhabitants, and the natural food of the polar 
regions is eaten with as high a relish as the choicest 
dainties in temperate climates. Food is too often in- 
jured by hurtful variety, and pernicious seasonings. 
Blood, which was so grateful to the Egyptians, was 
abhorrent to the Jew. 

Attica imported corn from Syria, Egypt, Libya, 
Cyprus, Rhodes, Sicily, Euboea, Cimmerian Bos- 
phorus, and Thracian Chersonese. " Far, a grain 
similar to wheat, w^as, according to Martyn, the 
corn of the Italians." Alica, so highly esteemed by 
the Romans, was brought from Pisa, Verona, and 
Egypt. The flour of the best alica from Campania, 
was whitened with chalk from Naples. The bread of 
the Athenians was generally made at home, but it was 
also sold in the market by females. The bakers in 
Rom^, like persons of other trades, formed a college. 
Shops were kept for selling wine, confections, fruits, 
and provisions. 

Garlic was a favorite article among the Egyptians 
and Athenians ; and, though banished from the tables 
of the fashionable in Rome, it was highly esteemed by 
reapers, soldiers, and sailors. The onion, so exten- 
sively cultivated in Egypt, was forbidden to the 
sacerdotal order. The bean, which was made into 



158 ERGONOMY. 

bread by the ancients, was highly esteemed by the 
Romans, and as highly abominated by the Egyptians. 

The pheasants of Mingrelia, the largest and finest 
known, were much esteemed in ancient times. The 
ancients pronounced the flamingo delicious ; the mod- 
erns, on the contrary, esteem it unsavory. The crane, 
so delicate while young, constituted one of the dishes 
at Roman banquets. Pork was not eaten in Egypt ; 
and mutton in only one of the Egyptian nomes. The 
wild boar was served up whole on Roman tables, and 
Juvenal calls it "an animal born for the sake of ban- 
quets." The mullet, taken near Sinope and Abdera, 
was held in high repute. The Romans fattened and 
consumed snails in great quantities. The lamprey, the 
" Helen" at banquets, was carefully reared by the Ro- 
mans in fish-ponds, and taught to be obedient to the 
human voice. Hortensius wept at the death of one, 
and Antonia adorned another with pendants. Anax- 
andrides says that the Thracians ate butter, which, at 
that time, was considered by the Greeks as a wonder- 
ful food. Strabo informs us that the Lusitanians used 
butter instead of oil; and its use by the Ethiopians is 
confirmed by both Strabo and Ludolphus. Diosc(5i'ides 
says that butter might be employed in pastry, and 
poured over vegetables like oil. 

Vinegar, mixed with water, was a common drink 
among the lower classes in Rome. Ale or beer, al- 
most unknown to Greece and Rome, was very gene- 
rally used among the surrounding nations. Ale was 
made of barley, wheat, oats, millet, rice, panic, spelt, 
and grain of every species. The Egyptians, according 
to Herodotus, commonly drank " barley wine," which, 



E R G N M Y. 159 

according to Diodorus Siculus, was nearly equal to 
wine in strength and flavor. The Iberians, the Thra- 
cians. and the people in the north of Asia Minor, 
placed beer before their guests in large bowls or 
vases. The Greeks mingled their wine with the juice 
of the fir tree. The Greeks and Romans cooled their 
wine with ice. 

In very early ages, the custom of dining in public 
extensively prevailed among the Greeks. The prac- 
tice existed in Megara and Corinth, and, at a still 
earlier period, according to Aristotle, among the Eno- 
trians and Carthaginians, who were not Hellenic na- 
tions. Each town of Crete, according to Dosiades, had 
a public building for lodging strangers, and a common 
hall for the citizens. The citizens were divided into 
messes, and the meals distinguished for simplicity-and 
temperance. The boys were seated near the men, and 
cheerfulness was kept up by music. The repast was 
followed by conversation upon public affairs and illus- 
trious men. Every head of a family in Sparta must 
contribute his portion of the cost, or be excluded from 
the public tables. The guests were divided into com- 
panies, and the vacancies filled by a unanimous elec- 
tion. No person, not even a king, was excused from 
attendance, except for satisfactory reasons ; and the 
absentee, when on a chase, must send a present to his 
table. Black broth, with pork, was the principal fare ; 
and the contribution of each member was settled by 
law. The dessert was often supplied by presents of 
game, poultry, fruits, and delicacies which no one was 
allowed to purchase. Sobriety was supplanted by lux- 



160 ERGONOMY. 

ury, and Agis lost his life in his attempt at refor- 
mation. 

Thucydides informs us that every city of Attica had 
a city hall. As the house of each family was its home, 
so was the public hall of each state the common home 
of all its members. In the public hall of Athens, in 
which a fire was continually burning, the city exer- 
cised the duties of hospitality to strangers and citi- 
zens. Foreign ambassadors were entertained in it, as 
well as Athenian envoys on their return home from a 
successful or well-conducted mission. It was used for 
the entertainment of the successive presidents of the 
senate, together with those citizens who, for personal 
or ancestral services, had their meals furnished at the 
public expense. 

The lower classes of Egypt lived upon cheese, plants, 
roots, and the ordinary fruits of the country. A suc- 
cession of onions, cucumbers, melons, leeks, garlic, figs, 
and grapes, was introduced at private* and public fes- 
tivals. While the dinner was preparing, the guests 
were entertained Avith sherbets, music, dancing, and 
conversation. Oxen, kids, goats, gazelles, onyxes, 
geese, ducks, widgeons, and quails, were served up by 
numerous servants. The table was furnished with 
loaves of bread, and rolls sprinkled with aromatic 
seeds. 

The ordinary food of the Greeks was mallows, cab- 
bages, beans, lentils, and barley cakes. They used 
pungent herbs, with eggs, oysters, wine, honey, and 
various sweetmeats. A meal was taken early in the 
morning, a luncheon at noon, and a dinner late in the 
day. The first course at Athens was fish, poultry, and 



EKGONOMY. 161 

meatSj attended with garlands and perfumes. The 
second course consisted of fruits, sweetmeats, and con- 
fections. 

The luncheon of the Romans consisted of delicate 
fish, with the choicest wine sweetened with honey. 
The courses at dinner, their principal meal, frequent- 
ly amounted to seven. Their stimulants were eggs, 
hot sausages, Syrian prunes, and pomegranate ber- 
ries. They served up pheasants, thrushes, ducks, 
turtles, flamingoes, chars, turbots, sturgeons, mullets, 
and eels garnished with sprawns. They stewed the 
liver of capons in milk, and prepared fungi, truffles, 
and mushrooms, with the sediment of wine. Helio- 
gabalus had his " peacocks' brains," " tongues of 
nightingales," and " oysters from the distant shores 
of Britain." " The most exquisite dainties," were 
provided for the emperors ; " birds of the most dis- 
tant climates, fish from the remotest seas, fruits out 
of their natural season, winter roses and summer 
snows." 

Carving, according to Petronius, was taught as an 
art, and performed to the sound of music with appro- 
priate gesticulations. The pantomimes, who perform- 
ed by gestures and attitudes, and organs, with their 
elegant mechanism and mellow tones, were employed 
to gratify the Romans at splendid entertainments. 
Suetonius mentions a supper-room in the golden pal- 
ace of Nero, consisting, like a theatre, of shifting 
scenes, to change with every course. One supper 
of Lucullus cost one hundred thousand francs, and 
his fishes sold for seven hundred thousand more. 
A breakfast of Heliogabalus cost four hundred thou- 



162 ERGONOMY. 

sand francs ; a dinner, one million eight hundred thou- 
sand. iEsopus swallowed a pearl worth two hundred 
thousand, and his son dissolved precious stones for 
drinking at entertainments. Apicius devoured four- 
teen millions, and, finding less than two millions 
remaining, the fear of starvation drove him to suicide. 
VI. The ancients exhibited a diversified taste in 
their horses, trappings, vehicles, insignia, games, and 
music. The time of the Athenians was consumed in 
attendance upon festivals and public courts. The 
public interest was absorbed in splendid ceremonials, 
gorgeous solemnities, and dramatic representations. 

1. Almost every classic writer alludes to the pre- 
ference given to Avhite horses in ancient times. The 
chariot of Jupiter, in the memorable march of Xerxes 
against Grreece, was drawn by eight white horses 
brought from Armenia. The Germans, according to 
Tacitus, consecrated white horses to sacred uses ; 
and in Sicily and Rome, white horses, according to 
Livy, were esteemed above all others. Horace praises 
white horses on several occasions ; and Yirgil lauds 
the glossy coats of the white horses of Turnus. 

2. The saddle-blankets of the ancients were splendid, 
and the girth was made of the richest materials with 
the most elaborate embroidery. The Asiatics covered 
their horses with beautiful palls, and made bridle-bits 
of gold set with jewels. The yoke, besides its costly 
materials and carvings, was decorated with elevated 
plumes and figures. The Komans adorned their 
favorite animals with splendid necklaces, and the 
emperors exhibited unrivaled splendor and magnifi- 
cence in their triumphal processions. 



E R G N M Y. 163 

The persons sent on special missions wore golden 
crowns, and drove into the city with a handsome cha- 
riot and splendid retinue. Nicias is reported to have 
incurred great expense on his embassy to Delos ; and 
Alcibiades astonished the spectators at Olympia by 
the magnificence of his equipage, and the profuseness 
of his expenditures. The embassies sent, by the 
Athenians to Delphi, were particularly brilliant. 
The wealthy vied Avith one another in the number 
and splendor of the horses and chariots which they 
sent to the games. The victor, on his return home, 
entered the city in a triumphal procession, in which 
his praises were celebrated in the loftiest strains of 
poetry. 

3. Gigs were kept for hire along the Roman roads, 
and covered carts were used by magistrates and dis- 
tinguished females on public occasions. The open 
carriage which was derived from Britain, was used 
for convenience ; and a traveling car, resembling the 
Belgic chariot, contained many persons with their 
baggage. Splendid carriages, furnished with soft 
seats, carried the vestal virgins and Roman mat- 
rons in the sacred processions. A very commodious 
vehicle for traveling was used by the kings and sa- 
traps of Persia ; and the one used for conveying the 
body of Alexander from Babylon to Alexandria was 
two years in constructing, and was described by more 
than one historian. The Phrygians sometimes drove 
ten horses to a vehicle, and four-wheeled carriages 
were used by distinguished Romans. Chariots were 
kept by great families, as indications of rank or as 
memorials of triumph. The body of the triumphal 



164 ERGONOMY. 

car was enriclied with gold, ivory, paintings, and 
sculptures. 

4. The sceptre was originally a wooden staff, which, 
on becoming an ensign of authority, received various 
emblematic devices. It was used by kings, princes, 
judges, heralds, priests, and seers. The Persians dis- 
tinguished those of rank and authority as the sceptre- 
bearing classes. The ivory sceptres of the kings of 
Rome were surmounted by an eagle, and descended to 
the consuls. 

The diadem, even in its simplest form, is an Orien- 
tal decoration. Alexander adopted the diadem of Per- 
sia, the ends of which fell upon his shoulders. Taci- 
tus speaks of the Euphrates rising in waves " white 
with foam so as to resemble a diadem." By the addi- 
tion of gold, pearls, and precious stones — by a contin- 
ual increase in richness, size, and splendor — a bandage 
was converted into a crown, the badge of sovereignty 
in Europe. It was worn as a festive, funereal, civic, 
or military decoration. The golden crowns which 
were given for the performance of certain actions, 
were, according to the action performed, decorated 
with beaks of ships, turrets, or palisades. A radial 
crown was worn by the emperors of Rome ; and the 
triumphal crown of gold and jewels, was large and 
massive. The Etruscan crown, imitating oak leaves 
studded with gems, was decorated with golden ribbons 
or ties. 

The throne, besides a variety of ornaments, was 
covered with splendid drapery. The peacock throne 
of India was decked with the richest jewels. The 
ensigns of regal dignity among the Romans were a 



ERGONOMY. 165 

golden crown, a highly ornamented chair, an ivory 
sceptre, a white robe with purple embroidery, and 
twelve attendants with an axe in a bundle of rods. The 
magistrates of municipal towns sat, on public occa- 
sions, in a large bronze chair inlaid with silver, and 
surmounted with a richly embroidered parasol. 

The Greeks fixed on the middle of their shield the 
gorgon's head, and surmounted its border with golden 
tassels. By the later poets and artists, the aegis is 
represented as a breastplate covered with metal in 
the form of scales. A boss, disc, or crescent, was 
attached to the dress or armor, or depended from 
the harness of horses, for making a terrific impres- 
sion. The helmet, ornamented with sphinxes or grif- 
fons, was surmounted by a handsome and imposing 
crest. 

5. " On some occasions," says Gibbon, " the whole 
furniture of the amphitheatre consisted either of sil- 
ver, or of gold, or of amber." " The nets designed 
as a defence against wild beasts, were of gold wires ; 
the belt or circle which divided the several ranks 
of spectators, was studded with a precious mosaic of 
beautiful stones." "Large trees, torn up by the roots, 
were transported into the midst of the circus. The 
spacious and shady forest was immediately filled with 
a thousand ostriches, a thousand stags, a thousand 
fallow deer, and a thousand wild boars." This game 
" was abandoned to the impetuosity of the multitude ;" 
and " they slew on the succeeding day a hundred lions, 
an equal number of lionesses, two hundred leopards, 
and three hundred bears." On another occasion, 
" twenty zebras displayed their elegant forms and 



166 ERGONOMY. 

variegated beauty." " Ten elks, and as many camel- 
opards, the loftiest and most harmless creatures which 
wander over the plains of Sarmatia and Ethiopia, were 
contrasted with thirty hyenas and ten Indian tigers, 
the most implacable savages of the torrid zone. The 
unoffending strength of the greater quadrupeds was 
admired in the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus of the 
Nile, and a majestic troop of elephants." 

The pomp of tournaments and hunts characterized 
Europe in the middle ages. The prime minister of 
England had mules housed with scarlet, gold service 
upon his side-board, and nobles following in his train. 
He had " great stores of rich stuffs, as whole pieces 
of silks of all colors, velvets, satins, musks, taffeties, 
grograms, scarlets, and divers rich commodities." His 
gallery, '• in expectation of the king's coming," w^as 
hung with gold, silver, and rich cloth. 

6. " The flute, harp, sackbut, and dulcimer," min- 
gled their tones on the plain of Dura ; and a chorus 
of singers with various instruments, celebrated the 
praises of the Most High in Solomon's temple. The 
Greeks employed both vocal and instrumental music 
at banquets, religious festivals, and social assemblies. 
The ancient chorus consisted of the Avhole citv, which 
met to offer thanksgivings in hymns and dances. 
Harps, hymns, and choruses, according to Homer 
and Hesiod, were employed in bridal processions. 
The chorus, being connected with their military or- 
ganization, received its full development in the Doric 
states. In the earliest times of Kome, mention is 
made of hymns and flutes in triumphal processions 
and funereal solemnities. Actors brought from Etru- 



E R G N M Y. 167 

ria danced to the notes of the flute ; and certain flute 
players, according to Livy, having deserted, were 
brought back by an amusing stratagem. The Roman 
flute players, according to Valerius Maximus, were 
incorporated into a college. Ambrose introduced an- 
tiphonal singing, consisting of progressions with dif- 
ferent species of the diapason, into the Christian 
church at Milan. 

The Pandean pipe, the instrument of the Arcadian 
shepherds, w^as admitted at dances ; and the organ, 
formed by a series of pipes, has become celebrated in 
ecclesiastical solemnities. The tibia, similar to the 
modern flageolet, was common among the Greeks, 
Romans, and Phoenicians. The Phrygian pipe was 
adapted to funereal solemnities ; the Lydian pipe, to 
battles and triumphs. The Thebans regarded the 
pipe with admiration ; the Athenians, with indiffer- 
ence. The sistrum was the mystical instrument of 
Egypt ; and the tympanum, resembling a modern tam- 
bourine, was employed in the orgies of Bacchus and 
Cybele. The cymbal was in common use among the 
Jews, Phoenicians, and Romans. The Romans used 
the horn for signals ; the trumpet, for proclaiming the 
watches. The music of the harp was considered by 
the Athenians as an exotic refinement, and was only 
known to the early Romans as a luxury brought over 
from Asia. The lyre, a manly instrument, was only 
played as an accompaniment to songs, and has given 
its name to a species of poetry. 

Music was united with poetry, rehearsals, and imita- 
tive gestures. As musical contests were regarded by 
the Greeks as valuable means of intellectual improve- 



168 ERGONOMY. 

merit, the competitors were required to possess natural 
abilities, laborious preparation, practical knowledge, 
modulated voices, and skill upon musical instruments. 
Greek literature had its origin in the performances of 
the rhapsodists, which were accompanied with music. 
" The tragedies of the ancients arose, by degrees, out 
of the peculiar national chorus and festival song." 
The chorus formed " an inseparable part of the ancient 
tragedy;" and perfect harmony between the choral 
and dramatic part, was an indispensable requisite. 
As the higher ranks of females joined in the public 
hymns and dances, no pains or sacrifices were deemed 
too extravagant for bestowing upon them elegance of 
shape and gracefulness of motion ; no expense was 
deemed too costly for endowing them with the re- 
quisite arts of modulating their voices and measuring 
their steps. 

The ancient romances, which were neglected by the 
refined Athenians, continued to delight the Grrecian 
peasantry. While Yirgil was describing the sports 
of rustics, those very rustics were singing their wild 
Saturnian ballads, a species of poetry which furnished 
the annalist with materials for prose. The descrip- 
tion of the removal of the Fabian house to Cremona, is 
one of the finest passages which adorns Livy's splen- 
did history. The actions of the ancient Gauls, accord- 
ing to Lucan, were commemorated by their bards ; and 
the vengeance of the spouse of Attila, for the murder 
of Seigfried, was celebrated in rhymes still revered in 
Germany. The exploits of Athelstan were commem- 
orated by the Anglo-Saxons ; those of Canute, by the 
Danes, in rude poems. The chants of the Welsh 



ERGONOMY. 169 

harpers preserved, througK ages of darkness, a faint 
and doubtful memory of Arthur ; and, in the Highlands 
of Scotland, are still gleaned some reliques of the old 
songs about Fingal and Cuthulin. The long struggle 
of the Servians against the Ottoman power, was re- 
corded in martial lays ; and the deeds of the Incas of 
Peru, according to Herrera, were celebrated by the 
bards in verses which the people committed to memory. 
The feats of Kurroglou, the great freebooter of Tur- 
kistan, were recounted by himself in ballads which are 
known in every village of Northern Persia. Min- 
strelsy attained a high degree of excellence among the 
Castilians ; and Mariana, the classic historian of 
Spain, relates the story of the marriage of the two 
daughters of the Cid. The bards of Sandwich Islands 
recite the heroic achievements of Tamhamaha ; those 
of Central Africa, the victory of the chief of the Jaloffs 
over the tyrant of Foota Terra. 

YII. Personal decorations, indicating rank, office, 
and condition, display the peculiar taste. 

Before the introduction of weaving, the Europeans 
were clothed in skins. The fox-skin was worn only 
by barbarous tribes ; the goat-skin by common labo- 
rers in civilized nations. The sheep-skin was the ordi- 
nary clothing of the Helots in Lacedsemon, and of the 
poor laborers in the other Grecian states. As civiliza- 
tion advanced in Greece and Rome, skins were only 
used for clothing couches and slaves. The northern 
nations used skins in the highest ranks of society ; 
and the ermine of Armenia, from its softness and deli 
cacy, was made into robes for the Persian nobility. 
The fawn-skin was enriched with gems ; and the leop- 

8 



no ERGONOMY. 

ard's skin, so admirable for its spots, was worn by the 
Egyptian priest. 

Goats' hair mixed with fur, according to historians 
and poets, was manufactured into coarse felt in northern 
Europe and Asia. The black tunics of the Cimbri, the 
winter dress of the auxiliary cohorts, and the clothing 
of the Roman legions in Britain, were made of felt. 
Seneca speaks of dresses made of feathers, and Vitru- 
vius mentions artificers who worked in feathers. Goats' 
hair was the chief ingredient of clothing among the 
Scandinavians, who, after the introduction of the dis- 
taff, plaited the thread into ribbons, sewed them to- 
gether and formed check dresses, which were so com- 
mon in most nations of northern latitudes during their 
incipient civilization. The thread was afterwards 
woven into narrow stripes, and finally into broadcloth. 
Sackcloth was made in Lycia, Phrygia, Spain, Libya, 
Cilicia, and used for the coarse habits of sailors and 
fishermen, for tents and horse-cloths, for expressing 
mortification and grief. 

The Greeks were clothed with wool, sometimes with 
linen or cotton. The white woolen dresses of the Ro- 
mans were purified by the fullers, who, like most classes 
of artisans, formed a colles;e. Lonnr after silk was im- 
ported from Seres, the Romans continued to mix it 
with linen or wool. Cloth of this mixed nature, first 
fabricated at Cos, was of so loose a texture as to be de- 
nominated " woven wind." Vestments of pure silk 
were considered appropriate only for females ; and 
Heliogabalus was severely censured as being the first 
who wore a robe of the pure material. TibuUus, Pro- 
pertius, Horace, and Ovid, adorn their verses with 



E R G N M Y. 171 

allusions to these elegant textures, which were some- 
times of a purple dye, and variegated with golden 
stripes. Men aspired to be clothed in silk which cost 
its weight in gold, and shawls and scarfs from the 
remotest East accumulated in the imperial wardrobe 
during successive reigns. 

The looms of refined nations executed patterns which 
vied with elegant paintings. The figures of historic 
and mythologic representations, made an elegant em- 
ployment for distinguished females. Iris finds Helen 
occupied in representing, in tapestry, the evils which 
the Greeks and Trojans were sufi"ering on her account ; 
and when Andromache first heard the melancholy 
tidings of the death of Hector, she was engaged in 
a similar occupation. Splendid tints were produced 
by murex and safi'ron, and sprigs and flowers secured 
an almost endless variety. 

The ends of the warp were separated into bundles, 
and transformed into tassels. Fringes, made of costly 
materials, were attached to garments by the Egyp- 
tian's, Romans, and Sarmatians. Barbarous nations 
wore fringes hung with bells ; and one hundred golden 
tassels surmounted Jupiter's mythic shield. Borders 
w^ere common to both sexes in many countries ; and to 
designate office, the border of the tunic was enriched 
with gold. It had the appearance of a scarlet or pur- 
ple band upon a white ground, and sometimes resem- 
bled foliage or meandering scrolls. The fillet, an 
ordinary portion of female dress, was used to con- 
fine the tresses. Fillets, ornamented with embroidery 
or set with pearls, were employed as ornaments for 
statues, altars, temples, victims, prophets, poets, priests, 



172 ERGONOMY. 

priestesses, and suppliants. The dress of the Roman 
matrons was gathered into broad folds, and had a 
flounce at the bottom. A circular robe, with a rich 
border at the bottom, was worn by females. The 
broad fillet at the bottom of the tunic, resembled a 
modern flounce, which, by the addition of gold and 
jewels, took the form of the more splendid and expen- 
sive cyclas. 

Long sleeves were worn by shepherds, tragic actors, 
and the Celtic and Asiatic nations. They were con- 
sidered effeminate by the Romans ; but they were 
worn by Catiline, Cassar, and Caligula. A dress 
with one sleeve was worn by slaves, laborers, and 
the chorus of old men in comic plays. Sleeves, as 
a separate part of dress, are mentioned as early as 
the Homeric age. Mittens protected the hands, and 
gloves were used by the Romans in certain manual 
operations. The Persians wore gloves and fur muffs. 

The pall was usually ornamented with a fringe by 
the northern nations. Blankets of splendid colors 
were worn by females, sometimes by men who Sis- 
played a fondness for dress. A train was an orna- 
ment of Grecian as well as of oriental dress, and 
Alcibiades wore a blanket which trailed upon the 
ground. The scarf was tastefully decorated with a 
border, and worn by females among the Phoenicians, 
Trojans, Phrygians, and other Asiatic nations. De- 
metrius, the son of Antigonus, wore a scarf in which 
were represented the twelve signs of the zodiac. 
Shawls were used for female dress, to protect val- 
uable furniture, to form a magnificent tent for enter- 
tainments. They displayed various symbolic and 



ERGONOMY. 173 

mythologic figures, and were used in religious cere- 
monies, to conduce to their splendor, to explain their 
signification, and to veil their solemnity. Yeils were 
worn by females ; and the veil of Ilione, the eldest 
daughter of Priam, was among the seven objects pre- 
served at Rome as pledges of its permanent power. 

The deep purple was restrained to the person and 
palace of the Roman emperor. A purple band extend- 
ing down the tunic, indicated the senatorial dignity. 
Napkins, coverlets, table-cloths, and the priests of 
Carthage aud Cadiz, were adorned with this badge. 
The Roman priest was clothed in a long white or 
purple robe, with his head decorated with a fillet 
and crown. After the toga was supplanted by the 
pall and lacerna, it was regarded by the higher classes 
as an honorable distinction. A colored dress, more 
easy than the toga, was worn by all classes at the 
Saturnalia, a season of universal relaxation and enjoy- 
ment. A crocus-colored robe was worn by the priests 
of Cybele, and as a gala dress by Grecian females. 
The Roman bride was dressed in a long white robe, 
with a purple fringe. A band was worn over the 
breast by females, and white bands were worn by 
men as an extraordinary refinement — a practice which 
was continued during the middle ages. 

Strabo describes the Persian gown as " a flowered 
tunic with sleeves." A Grallic garment was made the 
court dress by the emperor Bassianus, who, from this 
circumstance, was called Caracalla. The Roman trav- 
eling cloak gave freedom to the arms, and a cloak 
with a hood was worn by herdsmen and peasants. 
The coarse Gallic blanket, notwithstanding its shaggy 



174 ERGONOMY. 

appearance, became a fashionable garment. A thick 
'vvoollj cloth was used as a wrapper ; and the laccrna, 
an open garment, was worn over the toga in cold or 
rainy seasons. The lacerna was so highly decorated, 
that Martial mentions one which cost ten thousand 
sesterces. The sagum, a cloak worn by northern 
nations, was worn by Roman soldiers, and by all 
the citizens, except those of consular rank, when war 
prevailed in Italy. 

Pantaloons were common to all the nations which 
encircled the Greek and Roman population, extending 
from the Indian to the Atlantic oceans. They are 
particularly mentioned among the Medes, Persians, 
Armenians, Phrygians, SacDe, Sarmatians, Dacians, 
Getag, Belgians, Franks, Britons, and Gauls. They 
were wide and ornamented, and were ludicrously de- 
scribed in Euripides as " variegated bags." Though 
pantaloons appeared so highly ridiculous to classic 
taste, they were adopted by the colonies on the 
Euxine, and came gradually into use in Rome. 

Sandals, made of leaves, twigs, or fibres, according 
to Isidore and Tertullian, were worn by philosophers 
and comic actors. They were so ornamented as to 
become fashionable and expensive ; and the sandal 
makers constituted a corporation or college in Rome. 
Those Greeks and Romans who Avore shoes, induls-ed 
their fancy by inventing the greatest possible variety 
in form and color. They were elaborately cut, and a 
shoe larger than the foot was considered by Theo- 
phrastus as a proof of rusticity. Lucullus had shoes 
painted with spots in imitation of jewels. Senators 
adorned their shoes with a silver crescent. Helio- 



E R G O N M Y. 175 

gabalus decorated his shoes with beautiful cameos. 
Boots were worn by hunters, tragedians, and public 
ofificers. The leather was beautifully colored, and the 
paws of the animal sometimes turned down like flaps. 
As the soles elevated the wearer, one who had as- 
sumed the senatorial dignity, was told that his nobil- 
ity existed in his heels. Slippers were worn with 
the scarf or pall, not with the toga. Caligula wore 
gold and pearls upon his slippers. Socks of fine felt 
were worn by the Athenians ; and the socks of females 
were richly adorned according to the wearer's taste 
and means. 

The felt-cap worn by fishermen and mariners, was 
made in a conical form, and Ulysses is represented in 
a cap to indicate his seafaring life. Strabo observes 
that the climate of Media rendered felt-caps necessary, 
and calls the Persian cap " felt-shaped like a tower." 
The felt-cap of the Greeks and Romans fitted the 
head, and was used in sickness, journeys, and unusual 
exposures. It was used in the ceremony of manumit- 
ting slaves, and became an emblem of liberty. The 
broad-brimmed hat, worn by the kings of Macedon, 
was adopted by the Romans, especially by Caracalla, 
who used to imitate Alexander in costume. The tiara, 
a hat with a large high crown, characterized the 
Armenians, Parthians, Persians, and other northwest- 
ern Asiatics. The Mysian hat, now called the " Phry- 
gian bonnet," was a purple tiara with lappels to be 
tied under the chin. The kings of Persia wore an 
erect tiara ; their subjects, a soft, flexible one. The 
king, besides his diadem, wore a splendid tiara with 
white spots upon a blue ground, and adorned with 



176 ERGONOMY. 

gold and jewelry. The mitre, originally the name of 
an oriental head-dress, characterized the Phrygians. 
The cowl, so generally used as to be mentioned in an 
edict of Diocletian, was made of wool or beaver's fur, 
with a long nap. 

A colored ribbon, called a lemniscus by the Syra- 
cusans, was worn by ladies, and showered upon per- 
sons to show honor and admiration. Lemnisci and 
foliage were made of gold and silver, and embellished 
with various devices and inscriptions. A distinct 
class of persons wove wreaths, garlands, and festoons, 
and blended the forms, colors, and scents of the most 
beautiful variety of leaves, flowers, and fruits, in the 
most agreeable manner. The streets were sometimes 
enlivened with these splendid and tasteful decorations. 
Festoons were hung about the palace, and upon the 
door-posts of private houses. 

Euripides says that the Greeks derived their know- 
ledge of fans from " barbarous countries." They were 
elegant in form and material ; and, though waved by 
a slave, a gentleman might fan a lady as a compli- 
ment. Guests were fanned at table ; and Augustus 
was fanned during sleep. Female servants held par- 
asols over their mistresses ; but to present a lady 
with a parasol, or to hold one over her head, was a 
common attention bestowed by lovers. The use of a 
parasol was considered as a mark of effeminacy in 
men. Grecian females, in later times, substituted 
large straw hats for parasols. 

The diamond, " for a long time known to kings 
only," came into the possession of noble families. 
The Orphic poem commends the beauty of the opal as 



ERGONOMY. 177 

having " the delicate complexion of a lovely youth." 
" Nonius, who possessed an opal worth twenty thou- 
sand sesterces," fled to save " his whole fortune." 
The sardonyx was ranked by Pliny next to the opal ; 
and the Indian amethyst held the first rank among 
purple and violet-colored gems. Carnelians were 
brought from Babylonia ; and the coral, resembling 
vermilion, came from India. Theophrastus speaks of 
the sapphire as " sprinkled with gold ;" and the 
beryls, with which the Romans studded their cups, 
appear to have " a like nature with the emerald." 
From time immemorial, the princes of the East 
sought pearls for decorating their dress, instru- 
ments, and furniture. The Persians gave their 
weight in gold, and the Romans placed them in 
the second class of jewels. 

Necklaces were worn by Grecian and Roman 
females, and by both sexes in Egypt, India, and 
Persia. The simplest kinds consisted of berries, 
spheres of glass, and amethysts, frequently modified 
by a row of drops hanging below the beads, and 
arranging themselves upon the neck like rays pro- 
ceeding from a centre. Small golden lizards some- 
times alternated with the drops, and a band of several 
rows of chain-work supported numerous pendants. 
The ornaments sometimes consisted of circles, lozen- 
ges, rosettes, ivy-leaves, and hippocampi ; sometimes 
of emeralds, amber, greenish stones, and neatly-con- 
trived clasps. Necklaces sometimes resembled ser- 
pents coiled about the neck, and their costliness was 
enhanced by the insertion of pearls and precious 
stones, strung with gold-wire and links. 



178 ERGONOMY. 

Frontlets, made of steel or gold enriched with gems, 
were worn by both sexes in Lydia. Armlets were 
sometimes merely fragments of agate, carnelian, and 
jasper — sometimes wrought into the shape of quadru- 
peds, beetles, and human eyes. The Samians wore 
ornamental armlets at solemn festivals ; and the fash- 
ionable ladies of Germany had armlets of various 
materials, shapes, and styles. Anklets were made 
of gold or silver ; and greaves, of velvet ornamented 
with gold. Ear-rings were worn only by females in 
Greece and Rome ; by both sexes in Lydia, Babylon, 
Persia, Libya, and Carthage. They were made of 
metal, with drops of gold, pearls, and precious stones. 
Brooches of gold were worn by females upon the 
breast, shoulders, and arms. They were succeeded 
by buckles, which the emperors set with gems. The 
caskets for keeping ladies' jewelry, were made of gold, 
silver, ivory, mother-of-pearl, or tortoise-shell, enriched 
with sculpture. 

The Cassiterides, according to Strabo, wore very 
long beards ; and the Catti, according to Tacitus, did 
not shave till they had performed a certain heroic 
action. A thick beard indicated manliness in Greece, 
slovenliness in Rome. The Greeks shaved in mourn- 
ing ; the Romans pursued a contrary practice. To 
go with uncombed hair, was a sign of affliction ; and 
both sexes carefully used the comb in ordinary cir- 
cumstances. The process of clipping, shaving, and 
perfuming, was performed by a barber, who had a 
great concourse daily gossiping at his shop. Nero 
dedicated his hair to Jupiter Capitolinus ; and Statius 



ERGONOMY. 1T9 

mentions a person who requested the composition of 
some verses suitable to such a dedication. 

The Athenian ladies sprinkled their hair with yel- 
low powder, crowned it with flowers, and fastened it 
with a golden clasp. The Roman females, in the 
earlier ages, dressed their hair with elegant simpli- 
city ; but, in the Augustan age, they dressed it with 
scrupulous nicety, colored it with gold dust, made it 
glossy with ointments, and adorned it with pearls, 
ribbons, or golden chains. They used paints, cosmet- 
ics, and washes, for improving their complexion, and 
powders to strengthen the gums, to assuage pain, and 
to beautify the teeth. 

The Greeks applied Egyptian ointment to the feet, 
palm oil to the cheeks, balsam mint to the arms, sweet 
marjoram to the hair, and wild thyme to the neck. 
The Romans, according to Seneca, anointed them- 
selves three times a day. Hundreds of bottles are 
found in Italy ; and Athenseus wrote a treatise on 
the Roman ointments. The plebeians used scented 
oils ; the patricians, the most costly unguents and 
perfumes. The traflic in perfumery was considerable 
in several towns in Greece and Italy ; and one great 
street in Capua consisted entirely of shops for selling 
perfumes and ointments. Suetonius says that Cali- 
gula perfumed the waters of the bath ; and Pliny states 
that Nero anointed the walls with precious aromatics. 

VIII. Tablets for writing were usually made of box- 
wood ; and waxen tablets continued in use in Europe 
during the middle ages. They were used by the 
Romans for short writings, and even for letters which 
were sealed like le^al documents. Eumenes, king of 



180 ERGONOMY. 

PergamuSj improved the manufacture of skins for 
writing; and the papyrus of Egypt, before the time 
of Herodotus, was extensively used in Western Eu- 
rope. The duty on imported papyrus was abolished 
by Theodoric ; and Oassiodorus congratulated the 
world on the cessation of a tax so unfavorable to 
commerce and learning. The back of the paper was 
usually stained, the pieces joined into a single sheet, 
the edges carefully cut and colored, and the sheet 
rolled upon a staff, the projecting ends of which 
were ornamented with balls or bosses. The volume, 
which sometimes contained the portrait of the author, 
was protected by a parchment case, stained yellow or 
purple. 

The ink of Egypt still retains its brightness, and 
that of Herculaneum is still fit for use. Purple let- 
ters adorned the banners of Crassus, and the signa- 
ture of the emperor appeared in red ink. Part of the 
poems of Nero were written with gold letters, and 
gold letters are found on public pillars and monu- 
ments. Ovid advises to write love-letters with fresh 
milk, so that they would not be legible till sprinkled 
with coal-dust. The ephors of Sparta had a secret 
mode of communicating with their absent kings and 
generals. 

The buildings of Grreece for literary pursuits were 
surrounded by gardens, groves, porticos, and shady 
walks embellished .with sheets of limpid water. At 
Athens, every scene, every edifice, every conversation, 
was a living lecture of elegance and erudition. The 
seven liberal pursuits, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arith- 
metic, music, geometry, and astronomy, were so assid- 



ERGONOMY. 181 

uously cultivated, that Cicero well remarked, that stu- 
dious youth should go to Greece, where '• they might 
drink from fountains rather than from rivulets." The 
elements of good taste, which they possessed by nature 
and improved by art, imparted to literature the liveli- 
est and most attractive charm. The museum founded 
by Ptolemy Philadelphus, for the promotion of learn- 
ing, formed a part of his palace. It contained clois- 
ters, porticos, a public theatre, a dining-hall, and in- 
cluded botanic and zoologic gardens. 

The vast concourse which assembled at the Olympic 
games, afforded an opportunity of publishing literary 
works. The booksellers of Rome employed transcrib- 
ers, and put up the titles of their books on the shop 
doors. Horace rejoices that his books were not seen 
at the common stalls ; and Martial tells a person that 
a copy of his works could be obtained at Tryphon's, 
the bookseller. A library became an indispensable 
appendage to a palace ; but many gentlemen were 
ignorant of the precious matter contained in their 
splendid volumes. 

Pisistratus made a considerable collection of books 
at Athens ; and Aristotle, aided by the munificence 
of Alexander, collected a still more valuable library. 
Attains and Eumenes collected a library at Pergamus, 
containing two hundred thousand volumes. The 
library of Alexandria, the most celebrated in ancient 
times, was begun by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and after- 
wards enlarged to seven hundred thousand volumes, 
consisting of vast collections of records, histories, 
tracts, poems, every thing curious, valuable, or ele- 
gant among literary productions. The consuls trans- 



182 ERGONOMY. 

ported many valuable volumes to Rome, and several 
valuable libraries were founded in the city. 

Petrarch, during his life, searched two hundred 
libraries. Leontius, forsaking the wealth of Venice 
and the elegance of Florence, went to Constantinople 
to aearch for Grecian manuscripts. Nicholas the 
Fiftli, by collecting ancient manuscripts from Byzan- 
tium, Germany, and Britain, formed a library of five 
thousand volumes. To his munificence the Latin 
world is indebted for the versions of Xenophon, Poly- 
bius, Thucydides, Herodotus, Appian, Strabo, Homer, 
Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Theophrastus. Cosmo 
of Medicis, a name almost synonymous with the re- 
st iration of learning, dedicated his riches to literature. 

The moderns exhibit a great diversity in their 
edifices, arts, sepulture, furniture, food, equipage, ap- 
parel, and literature. 

I. A vault of ice, containing several rooms, serves 
the Esquimaux for a dwelling. The inhabitants of the 
Aleutian islands live in warm houses underground, 
containing more than one hundred persons. The 
Highlander of Scotland covers his hut with turf, 
over which the grass grows so as to resemble a 
green hillock. The Laplander rears a mound of turf 
and sticks ; the American Indian covers several poles 
with buffalo robes ; and the wandering Arab stretches 
his light canvas tent upon the desert. The houses of 
the Caribs are built of poles tied together with bark 
strings. The earthen floor of their church is strewed 
with pine leaves, the sides trimmed with branches and 
festoons, and the altar ornamented with fis-leaves and 
floral wreaths. The Madawascans cover their huts 



E R G N M Y. 183 

with pine bark ; the New Mexicans, with a terrace 
of sod upon logs. The houses of the Feejees are 
closed with small canes, and thatched with sugar- 
cane and fern leaves. The Hindoo builds a slight 
wicker-work house, and the inhabitants of Lima cover 
their houses with reeds or coarse cloth. 

Grace church, in New York, has the form of a cross, 
with a lofty spire. The white marble of the exterior 
is admirably adapted to exhibit the rich tracery and 
architectural forms. The style, a tasteful variety of 
the richest Gothic, is little known to the architects of 
England, and was never before attempted in the 
United States. The interior is finished with elab- 
orate ornaments, and colored to resemble the stone 
which was used in sumptuous buildings in the middle 
ages. The windows are divided by mullions and intri- 
cate tracery, and fitted throughout with glass, either 
stained in the fire, or colored with the molten liquid. 
Although the church is so rigidly symmetrical in 
form, the ornamental parts are beautifully varied, 
and the patterns of the glass are almost endless in 
variety. 

The Turks of Asia erect costly baths, and build 
caravansaries for refreshing pilgrims. The bath is 
now prevalent from the villas of Italy to the chateaux 
of France — from the castles of Germany to the palaces 
of Muscovy. Edifices, with magnificent ornaments, 
arose during the splendid reign of Napoleon ; and 
the visit of the sovereigns of Europe to Paris, gave 
a new impulse to the art. The architects have adapt- 
ed their style to useful as well as to tasteful purposes ; 
and the chief cities of England, Russia, and Switzer- 



184 ERGONOMY. 

land, partake of this useful style, without a sacrifice 
of classic proportion and purity. The Italian style 
aims at shade ; the French style is nearly all window. 

Naples, which is noted for the number and richness 
of its palaces, contains four hundred churches. The 
grotto, to facilitate intercourse* between Puteoli and 
Naples, is cut through a hill, and has apertures and 
suspended lamps for furnishing light. The principal 
streets of Bologna are lined with arcades or continued 
porticoes. Venice has one hundred and forty-nine 
canals, spanned by three hundred and six arched 
marble bridges. Its architecture is a mixture of the 
Gothic with a redundant ornamental Arabic. The 
palace of the doge, of all orders, is rich in mosaics, 
statuary, and columns of porphyry, serpentine, veined, 
and other marbles. The palace on Isola Bella has a 
suite of subterraneous apartments fitted up like a 
marine grotto, tastefully incrusted with shells, rock- 
work, and stalactites. The garden on an elevated 
terrace is crowned with flowers and statuary, and 
redolent with fragrant . plants. The walls of the 
Duomo at Pisa are adorned with various marble 
columns, a mixture of Grecian and Arabic blended 
in the style. The dazzling array of white walls, in 
the enchanting plains of Italy, is nothing but stucco 
daubed upon coarse stone edifices. 

Aqueducts, an interesting feature in modern Rome, 
have allegoric figures, statuary, splendid colonnades, 
magnificent basins, and foaming columns which descend 
in copious showers or wreaths of spray. One of them, 
which cost a million of dollars for its repairs, has the 
statues of Moses smiting the rock, and Aaron leading 



ERGONOMY. 185 

the Israelites to drink. The palace at Florence is 
connected with public grounds planted with shrubbery 
of evergreens, so that the winters are dressed in beau- 
tiful foliage. The apartments are set oif with elegant 
tables, the walls are entirely covered with paintings, 
and one room has a magnificent frescoe painting on 
the ceiling. The mouldings are gilded, the wainscot- 
ing is of rich silk tapestry, and all the furniture is in 
a corresponding style. One table for the royal chapel, 
ornamented with the variegated colors of the most 
beautiful stones and gems, employed twelve persons 
for eight years. The chapel has employed three 
hundred men, at a time, for more than two hundred 
years. It is an octagon literally encased with marble 
and precious stones. 

Paris is a continuous succession of splendid ave- 
nues, streets, parks, gardens, palaces, monuments, and 
triumphal arches. The dome of the finest church is 
surrounded by thirty-nine columns, and supported by 
heavy columns ornamented with pilasters. The inte- 
rior is adorned with one hundred and thirty fluted 
Corinthian columns. The court of the Hotel des 
Invalides, is surrounded by four piles of buildings, 
constituting the refectories, lodgings, and public sa- 
loons. The water of the city costs the citizens nearly 
one million of dollars annually. The Tuileries, con- 
taining seventy acres, are ornamented with elegant 
statuary, and adorned with gravel walks, shady trees, 
and comfortable seats. The palace of Yersailles, in- 
cluding its inclosure, cost about two millions of dol- 
lars. 

Amsterdam is noted for its ship-yards and canals. 



186 E R G N M Y. 

Moscow contains a bell weighing two hundred tons ; 
Harlem, an organ with eight thousand pipes. In 
France lofty trees ornament the public roads, pri- 
vate lanes, and meandering water-courses. The tra- 
veler passes " for several days through almost one 
continuous avenue of cherry-trees, from Strasburg by 
a circuitous route to Munich." " In Moravia the road 
from Brun to Olmutz, passes through such an avenue, 
extending upwards of sixty miles." 

A Huno-aria.n villasre has two rows of cottages alon^j 
a muddy road, intermingled with marble palaces tow- 
ering to the skies, surrounded by gardens, fortresses, 
and terraces, and decorated with fountains, statues, 
and costly pictures. Small wooden huts contrast with 
superb edifices, in Petersburg and Moscow. The nar- 
row, ill-paved streets ; the low, gloomy houses of 
Constantinople, contrast with its gilded domes, ele- 
gant minarets, and splendid mosques. In England, 
the castle with porter's lodges, magnificent gates, 
and extensive parks, contrast with the hut with a 
few plants in front, a vine running over the door, 
and a flower blooming in the window. 

Churches, monasteries, and nunneries, cover nearly 
half the ground of Bogota ; and the decorations of the 
churches exceed those of the most gorgeous temples 
of the Incas. One statue is ornamented with one 
topaz, one hyacinth, fifty-nine amethysts, one hundred 
and seventy-two pearls, one thousand two hundred and 
ninety-five emeralds, and one thousand three hundred 
and forty-eight diamonds. The houses of Guatimala 
are only one story high, and have doors and windows 
protected by iron balconies. A large stone fountain 



E R G N M Y. 187 

in the centre of the city, is supplied with water from 
the mountains. The church of Esquipulas has a lofty 
portal, a nave separated by pilasters, a lofty dome, 
walls adorned with pictures, recesses filled with sta- 
tues, a pulpit covered w^ith gold leaf, an altar pro- 
tected by an iron railing with a silver balustrade. 
The city of Mexico is adorned with fountains and 
public edifices. Scarcely anything is expended for 
education, while one hundred millions of dollars are 
locked up in church ornaments. 

A Chinese street is covered with boards or matting, 
and appears more like a bazaar than a highway. The 
sides of the edifices are displaced ; and the tempered 
light admitted above, displays " silks, satins, crapes, 
porcelain, preserves, lacquered ware, screens, snufi"- 
boxes, chess-boards, ivory, carvings," and fanciful tri- 
fles. The better classes of houses in the retired por- 
tions of cities, are surrounded by high walls, and 
contain numerous apartments with several paved 
courts. The dwellings of the poor have earthen 
floors, and roofs of bamboo matting. The whole 
country is an almost continuity of cities ; and the 
suburbs of great cities are formed by large and 
populous villages. The paint of the houses has a 
glossy brightness. Private houses have no windows 
towards the street ; and a mat before the door pre- 
vents the public gaze. Many vessels are floating 
houses for accommodating whole families. 

The gardens in the suburbs, are entered by circular 
gateways, and adorned with roses, camellias, and shrub- 
bery. In the miniature valleys, " lakelets spread out 
filled with lilies growing in their native element, and 



188 ERGONOMY. 

swarming with gold-fish, which chase each other among 
the blossoms." Slender bridges, the lines of which 
seem to be spun of gossamer, are hung over the 
narrow streams. Summer-houses of bamboo and cane, 
are twisted into every grotesque shape, and laced with 
creepers of the brightest verdure. The dwellings have 
plainness and simplicity, except the grotesque carv- 
ings and gildings. The saloon of domestic privacy 
has a peculiar sacredness ; and the light stealing 
through the aperture above, imparts a calm and 
quiet beauty. A marble table stands between two 
rows of ebony chairs ; embroidered silk lanterns de- 
pend from the ceilings ; and pictures and scrolls, 
valuable as family reminiscences, hang around the 
olive-colored walls. 

II. In the splendid museum of Florence, the busts 
of eminent men, ancient sarcophagi, bronzes, medals, 
inscriptions, and gems of various forms, are concen- 
trated into one cabinet. The works of the most 
celebrated artists of ancient and modern times, are 
arranged in three long corridors, the ceilings of which 
are painted with elegant frescoes. Paris contains 
more than twenty galleries and museums of the fine 
arts. The Louvre is replenished with thirteen thou- 
sand paintings ; and a museum contains engravings, 
drawings, models, and galleries for modern and Egyp- 
tian sculpture. 

The museum of Naples contains antiquities from all 
parts of the world, and in almost endless variety. A 
hall is devoted to paintings, mostly illustrative of 
heathen mythology and historical events. The gal- 
lery of ancient sculpture, comprising twelve depart- 



ERGONOMY. 189 

ments, contains over six thousand specimens. The 
Etruscan and Egyptian gallery contains sepulchral 
monuments, vases, armor, and mummies. A gallery 
of antique bronzes of great variety, contains a bust 
of Seneca, whose face exhibits deep and philosophic 
lines. Among a labyrinth of rooms, two are appro- 
priated to foreign and Neapolitan paintings, amount- 
ing to several thousand. A gallery contains the anti- 
quities found in Herculaneum and Pompeii. A cameo, 
on which is sculptured the head of Medusa and the 
marriage of the river Nile, is one foot in diameter, 
and is valued at one hundred thousand crowns. Ca- 
meos, intaglios, seals, jewels, and gems, attract the visi- 
tor with a spell which he is unwilling to dissolve. 

III. The pure taste of Chantry, in the cathedral 
of Litchfield, has thrown a beauty over death. The 
mother sees her beloved children clasped in each 
other's arms, almost realizes her past happiness, and 
would fold the treasure to her bosom, did not the cold 
embrace dissipate the fond illusion. Duty is not con- 
sidered as performed " while a single motive is not 
made to play upon the actions of human life, while 
a single rill of comfort is not made to flow in upon 
the waters of affliction." 

One of the cemeteries without the walls of Paris, 
contains one hundred acres. The sepulchral plants 
are kept in perpetual verdure ; and nearly all the 
monuments are hung with wreaths, either of natural 
or artificial flowers. The living feel almost willing 
to lay themselves down in the marble tomb, over 
which the honeysuckle wreaths its fragrant blossoms, 
around which the rose and hyacinth distil their redo- 



190 E R G N M Y. 

lent dew, and upon which friends record their love in 
the enduring tablet. A dictionary of illustrious men, 
set off with all the fascinations of art, enforces the most 
vivid and intimate associations. 

Mount Auburn, near Boston, is so contrived as to 
make the couch of death a garden of beauty. The 
intersecting avenues are graveled, and planted on 
each side with trees, flowers, and ornamental shrubs. 
The solemn beauty which pervades it on all sides, 
and the unbroken silence which reigns around, almost 
reconciles the meditative spirit to " that bourne from 
which no traveler returns." Other American cities 
have established cemeteries in quiet and beautiful 
retreats. 

IV. The female Greenlander arranges the furniture 
with neatness, hangs up before it a white curtain con- 
taining figures in needlework, and fastens her pin- 
cushion and looking-glass to this ornamental drapery. 
The long galleries at Havana are hung with green 
curtains, and adorned with crystal lustres. The beds 
have white curtains, and the embroidered pillow-cases 
are tied with rose-colored ribbons. The cambric tow- 
els are trimmed with lace, and sacking bottoms cov- 
ered with damask. The higher classes of the Greeks 
and Turks, repose upon sofas with muslin trimmings 
and ornamental quilts. The Dutch lady covers her 
beds and tables with fine linen, adorns her rooms with 
pictures, and embellishes her yards with beautiful 
flowers. 

The East Indians suspend from their ceilings the 
epidendrum, which continues to put forth yearly ele- 
gant leaves and fragrant flowers. The Pelews form 



E R G N M Y. 191 

their knives of marine shells, and their drinking-cups 
of cocoanut shells. In France, mirrors are framed 
into the walls, and regularly let "with the apartments. 
Some pieces of tapestry, containing the designs of the 
most celebrated pictures, are in the loom for six years. 
Their houses have porcelain vases, cups, pitchers, urns, 
figures, statues, toys, and chimney ornaments. 

V. The Brahmin is satisfied with vegetables ; the 
Norwegian, with the coarsest bread ; and the Hunga- 
rian magnate, only with the richest delicacies. Dogs 
are eaten in China ; locusts, in Arabia ; and snakes, 
mice, lizards, and caterpillars, in Africa. Sloths, mon- 
keys, armadillos, alligators' tails, and wild fowls, consti- 
tute the Brazilian food. In China, " fish-bones, orange- 
skins, grape-stems, peelings, and entrails," are disposed 
of " in stalls devoted exclusively to their sale." Horse- 
flesh is the favorite food of the Tartars, and fermented 
mare's milk is their favorite beverage. The Kam- 
schatdale regards putrid fish as a luxury, and the 
Gypsies seem to relish food in proportion as it ap- 
proaches putrefaction. 

The opulent Swede furnishes his table with profuse 
and costly collations. The dinner at Havana often 
costs two or three thousand dollars, when distinguished 
guests are invited on special occasions. A Prussian 
lady, that she may indulge herself in French mil- 
linery, keeps the most frugal table. The parsimonious 
food of the opulent Italian, allows a magnificent dis- 
play in splendid houses and elegant furniture. The 
Greek places a circular tray upon a stool, and his din- 
ner consists of twelve dishes presented singly. 



192 ERGONOMY. 

The table of the Chinese merchant is covered,, like 
an archipelago, with numerous islets of plates and 
dishes filled with disguised culinary compositions. The 
greatest dainties are " the larvse of the sphinx moth," 
" the grubs of sugar-cane," " salted earth-worms," 
" pigeons' eggs," " birds' nests," and " castor-oil beans." 
Suing, a fermented liquor made of rice, is served from 
silver flagons ; and the guests are presented with 
"Japan leather," "jellied deers' sinews," and rice fla- 
vored with the juice of birds' nests. The courses are 
so multitudinous, that the plates are piled upon each 
other's edges in pyramids. The table is cleared, pol- 
ished, and spread with new sets of rare porcelain for 
the dessert. " Cakes and sweetmeats, oranges of the 
mandarin and emperor species," shaddocks with curi- 
ously-carved rinds, " bananas, plantains, plums, grapes, 
and chestnuts," are piled up in pyramids and " crowned 
with flowers." Servants fling jasmine over the guests, 
and supply them with damask napkins steeped in 
scented roses. After tea, wine, and segars, a curtain 
is drawn, disclosing actors in brilliant costumes, amid a 
dazzling display of fire-works. A salute of music fol- 
lows ; then a Chinese tragedy, in which the passions 
are expressed in drawling recitative, prolonged groans, 
monotonous howls, petulant barks, and testy squeals. 
The intervals of the drama are filled up with clashes 
of cymbals, gongs, and kettle-drums. The curtain 
falls, conversation recommences, a clash of drums re- 
sounds, the curtain rises, and actors exhibit " their 
feats of leaping, tumbling, strength, and agility." 

VI. The king of Sardinia goes to church with two 
hundred military officers, who shine with gold and 



ERGONOMY. 193 

silver trimmings and epaulettes. The grooms are dress- 
ed in flaring red ; the pages of court are dressed in 
small-clothes, with white silk stockings ; and the queen 
appears in a white satin dress, inwrought with silver. 
The Neapolitan nobility, possessing scanty revenues, 
use gilded carriages lined in the richest style, drawn 
by eight horses, preceded by two running footmen, and 
followed by four servants in the costliest livery. The 
manes and tails of their horses are ornamented with 
feathers, ribbons, and artificial flowers. The Japanese 
girdle is richly ornamented with a coat of arms. The 
Burmese amuse themselves with boat races, theatrical 
representations, and splendid illuminations. The towns 
of England, though the peasantry live in poverty, are 
provided with theatres. 

The Roman pontiff", in religious processions, is cloth- 
ed in the most splendid robe, seated in a chair trimmed 
with crimson, and elevated upon the shoulders of twelve 
porters. At religious celebrations in Guatimala, the 
bells are rung, cannon fired, and rockets set off" in the 
streets. Arches, decorated with evergreens and flow- 
ers, extend across the streets, which, at the same time, 
are strewed with pine leaves. The windows are decked 
with silk curtains, and flags with various devices. The 
altars are covered with arbors of evergreens, and adorn- 
ed Avith pictures. The men appear in their best at- 
tire ; the females, in black mantillas ; the boys, in 
white frocks, pantalets, and vails ; the priests in costly 
garments, bearing golden candlesticks with lighted 
candles. 

The Pelews ornament their canoes with red shells, 
and the Arsasides decorate their boats with consider- 

9 



194 ERGONOMY. 

able taste. The canoes of the Feejees have large out- 
riggers ornamented with shells, and carry an immense 
sail of white mats, with pennants streaming from the 
yards. The piroques of the Madawascans, though with- 
out cushions or seats, are embellished with rude de- 
signs and decorated with flags and ribbons. The boats 
of the Chinese are often splendid, and European ships 
have cabins fitted up like elegant palaces. 

VII. The peasants of each province of Europe have 
peculiar costumes, which descend through successive 
generations. The Piedmontese women wear a cap of 
lace and frills, which " looks as if a strange bird had 
alighted upon the shoulders." The peasantry of Mo- 
dena place a miniature straw hat upon the head ; the 
Tuscans, on the contrary, wear one as large as an um- 
brella. The females of Genoa never appear in the 
streets " without a light scarf of white gauze thrown 
over their head." The Bernese female wears a black 
velvet bodice highly ornamented, blue skirts bound 
with red, a black collar ornamented with white metal- 
lic chains, a black ribbon hanging from the hair to the 
ground, and a black silk cap with a high gauze border 
running up in a waving circlet. The Swiss girls in- 
sert into their hair a braid of white cotton cloth, and, 
for grand occasions, a silk braid is fastened to the 
back of the head with a gold or silver pin. The mat- 
rons comb their hair straight backwards, gather it into 
a knot, and fasten to it two wings of stiffly-starched 
cambric. The dress of the Swedes is regulated by law, 
but the mountaineers retain their primitive costume. 

The female peasantry of Poland display a tawdry 
patchwork : the middle classes, much simplicity ; the 



ERGONOMY. I95 

nobility, much pomp and magnificence. The gentry 
of Bohemia wear a green waistcoat embroidered with 
silk, a broad leather girdle, brown pantaloons, and a 
linen cap edged with lace and embroidery. The court 
ladies keep many maids to supply them with coffee, to 
dress theiii differently every day, and to wait upon the 
cats and parrots in the hall. The Hungarian ladies 
fasten their belts with pearls or diamonds ; the peas- 
antry wrap over their jackets a sheepskin retaining 
the wool. 

The muslin dresses of the ladies of Havana, are 
richly embroidered and trimmed with lace. The negro 
who leads the orchestra, wears a swallow- tailed coat, 
yellow small-clothes, silk stockings, kid shoes w^th 
pink roses, and lace-ruffles upon his hands and breast. 
The Dutch lady wears a large hat pendant on each 
side, and a cap with gold filagrees twirling over her 
cheeks like tendrils. The Feejees supply a deficiency 
of hair with wigs, and paint their faces a shining black, 
relieved with vermilion spots. The girls wear their 
hair in ringlets ; but, after marriage, the female friz- 
zles it out, and the preparation of ashes, in which it is 
steeped, runs down her cheeks in zigzag lines. They 
oil their children, and anoint themselves to impart an 
orange hue. The chiefs wear large turbans, and the 
length of the pendant girdle denotes the rank of the 
wearer. 

The Chinaman puts a grass cloth next to his body, 
and cases his limbs in huge galligaskins tucked into 
large heavy cotton stockings. In the tops of these 
casings, he stows away his fans, purses, samples, and 
snuff-boxes. His satin shoes are turned upwards at 



196 ERGONOMY. 

the toes like skates, and have white soles three inches 
in thickness. A close double-breasted jacket, with 
wide sleeves, is buttoned across his breast ; and a 
loose tunic, clasped in front with golden buttons, 
extends to the ground. He has a shaved head, a 
pendant cue, and a protecting fan. Long nails, the 
evidences of laborless gentility, are inclosed in cases 
to prevent fracture. The lower classes of females 
wear trowsers ; and the well-bred appear as if clothed 
in many night-gowns. Her cap is decorated with 
jewels and costly embellishments. Her long nails 
are twisted into spiral curls, her eyebrows shaved, 
and her whitened cheeks dotted with vermilion. Her 
waist is without a zone ; but, instead of a civilized 
pressure upon the vitals, her feet are crushed into 
a deformed lump. 

The female Abyssinian wears rich silk ornamented 
with jewels ; and the Hanoverian ladies appear at 
court in rich furs decked with diamonds. The Moors 
use red slippers, and decorate their hair with coral 
beads. The Persian female wears a velvet robe fas- 
tened with gold buttons, and ornamented with jewels. 
The Greeks wear long flowing robes, and decorate 
their heads with flowers. The merchants and nobility 
of London, make a display of diamonds and pearls 
equal to the Asiatic princes. The Indians of Prince 
William's Sound, though clothed in undressed skins, 
hang ornaments from their noses and upper lips. 

A Turkish lady wears trowsers of rose-colored da- 
mask brocaded with silver, and white kid shoes em- 
broidered with gold. Her white gauze robe is edged 
with embroidery, and closed at the neck with a dia- 



ERGONOMY. 197 

mond button. Her white waistcoat has long sleeves, 
and is edged with a broad gold fringe. Her damask 
robe has a girdle richly adorned with pearls and pre- 
cious stones. Her loose robe is composed of rich bro- 
cade lined with ermine and sable. Her head-dress is 
made of silver stuff pointed like a mitre, the end hang- 
ing down with a golden tassel. Her hair is divided 
into tresses, braided with ribbons, and decorated with 
pearls, flowers, and diamonds. 

The peasantry of Norway, who dwell in earthen huts, 
wear belts adorned with brass plates, flapped hats 
ornamented with ribbons, and clothes filled with 
jingling trinkets. The Icelandic female, living in 
a turf hut upon coarse food, wears a girdle of black 
velvet, and decorates her dress with large silver 
clasps. The Circassian, living on millet-paste and 
reposing upon a felt-bed, uses pockets ornamented 
with embroidery, and clothes bound with lace. The 
Portugese female, who lives on bread and pilchards, 
wears fine boots and golden trinkets. 

The Papuese, who are houseless, are noted for 
tawdry finery ; and the New Caledonian, who dwells 
in a house resembling a bee-hive, uses artificial orna 
ments. The Ceylonese, who live within clay walls, 
are very fond of personal splendor ; and the Lapp, 
whose hut resembles a bakeoven, wears a cap of blue 
silk embroidered with lace. The Finn, whose dwel- 
ling looks like a pile of timber, wears white panta- 
loons, a yellow sash, and buskins with scarlet garters 
ending in a black tnssel. The female wears a scarlet 
vest brocaded with large flowers. The Russian fe- 



198 ERGONOMY. 

male, living in a mean hut, decorates her hair with 
pearls. 

The Polynesians wear a hoop of wood, a head-dress 
like a helmet, and a diadem set with mother-of-pearl. 
When first visited by Europeans, they showed the 
most lively joy on the presentation of any new com- 
modity, and successively desired nails, mirrors, whis- 
tles, knives, beads. The New Hollander puts a bone 
in his nose, and a shark's tooth in his hair. The 
inhabitants of the Carolines decorate their heads with 
feathers and flowers, suspend aromatic herbs from 
their nostrils, and hang plaited palm leaves to their 
ears. Both sexes, in the Moluccas, wear bracelets 
made of shells or porcelain. The Caffres put large 
feathers in their hair, and brass or ivory rings upon 
their arms. The Hottentots adorn themselves witli 
broken mirrors, brass rings, and jingling shells. Tlie 
head of the New Zealander, which appears above his 
thatch dress, is powdered and decorated with bones, 
buttons, and beads. 

All classes of the Madagassy wear bracelets, chains, 
rings, and ornaments for the hair and forehead. Large 
rings of cotton or hemp covered with small beads in 
various patterns, are worn by both sexes on the an- 
kles, arms, and wrists. The Cossack female wears a 
mitre adorned with flowers or pearls. The humming- 
bird is worn by Indian ladies as an ear pendant ; and 
the females of Tartary ornament their head-dress with 
the necks of herons disposed like horns. The hair of 
the Hindoo female is adorned with floral wreaths ; her 
ears, with pearls ; her bosom, with precious stones. 

VIII. Germany contains twenty-four universities. 



E R G N M Y. 199 

and, in the northern states of the empire, useful 
learning is diffused among all classes. The fine arts 
are cultivated in Tuscany at the expense of primary 
education. Millions are expended in building chapels, 
and educating promising artists. France has lyceums 
for languages, history, rhetoric, logic, and the natural 
and mathematical sciences. Amidst the convulsions 
•which have swept over her in successive tornadoes, 
her literary institutions struck deep their roots in 
the mental soil. Her educational system which com- 
menced under the republic, flourished under the empe^ 
ror, after the restoration, and after the late revolu- 
tion. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GENIUS. 

The variety in human genius suits different men 
for different pursuits, and dispels dull monotony from 
human affairs. A peculiar genius appears long before 
man casts off his parental dependency ; and society, 
through this diversity of genius in its members, glows 
like a variegated landscape. Its respective members 
resemble towering cedars, sturdy oaks, creeping ivy, 
verdant shrubbery, graceful pinks, delicate roses, splen- 
did palaces, humble cottages, glowing rubies, and spark- 
ling emeralds, grouped into elegant symmetry. Soci- 
ety, as illustrated by an apostle, has, like the human 
body, suitable members to perform the several oflSces 
to the general ornament and happiness. The Deity, 
by forming men into different moulds, and by placing 
them in different circumstances, so distributes taste 
and genius over the varied fields of philosophy and 
art, that every sequestered walk may be brought 
under appropriate culture. 

Man has a more comprehensive vision, superior 
enterprise, and endowments for command ; and wo- 
man, in a tributary relation, is his assistant, his 
comforter, and his companion, to cheer him in his 
arduous duties. As the dew produces the most 



ERGONOMT. 201 

fertility in the shade, so woman, in the shade of 
domestic retirement, sheds around her path the rich- 
est and most permanent blessings. If she does not 
conceive so grandly, she elaborates with more exqui- 
site delicacy. She chooses sedentary amusements and 
unlaborious occupations ; and while revolving in her 
proper orbit, she sheds around a mild lustre which 
pleases by its regularity, beauty, and usefulness. 

The Negro has a physical structure for enduring a 
tropical sun, for rendering a Southern plantation a 
delightful residence. His skin is guarded against 
blistering, his eye is protected by an appropriate 
membrane, and his brain is secured by a suitable 
cranium with a woolly covering. An African per- 
formed as much severe labor in the Mexican mines 
as two or three Indians. The Virginians and Ken- 
tuckians have always proved stronger than the Amer- 
ican savages. Strength depends much upon nutri- 
tious food and active occupation ; and the industrious 
portions of a civilized community, are more vigorous 
than those miserable savages that are so often de- 
pressed by the severest privations. The Arabs, in 
large hordes, visit, at a certain season, the commer- 
cial cities to procure necessary commodities, then 
plunge, for the remainder of the year, into tjie track- 
less desert. The Anglo-Saxons smile at the ice of 
wintry seas, or at the burning showers of equatorial 
sands. 

Some races have acute senses, which fit them for 
peculiar duties. The New Hollander hears very 
remote sounds, and sees objects at an almost incred- 
ible distance. The New Zealander hears distinctly 

9* 



202 ERGONOMY. 

the sound of a very remote gun, and readily distin- 
guishes a strange sail on distant waters. The Hot- 
tentot observes a deer at a great distance, hears the 
humming of a remote insect, and singles out a partic- 
ular foot-print among a thousand. " The Calmucks 
have a fine nose, a good ear, and a good eye." They 
smell a distant fire, hear the trampling of remote 
horses, and pursue game by the track for miles over 
deserts. Smell occurs among savages in a far higher 
degree of activity than among civilized nations, whose 
nerves are blunted by the use of highly-seasoned food, 
by exposure to strong odors or intricate combinations. 

The superiority of the sensorial organs is confirmed 
by exercise, and is very serviceable in civilized soci- 
ety. Some detect inequalities in surfaces which feel 
smooth to others ; and smell acquires, with some, a 
delicacy of discernment which intimates, with exact- 
ness, the approach of many bodies. Hearing, in some, 
has a fineness of discrimination which tells the direc- 
tion and distance of sounds, and measures difi'erences 
of tone which are insensible to blunter ears. Such an 
endowment, with proper culture, charms society with 
exquisite music. Mathematical investigations are 
facilitated by visual symbols, and perseverance ac- 
complishes noble results under very formidable dif- 
ficulties. Poetry and music, having their materials 
chiefly in the imagination and afi'ections, do not so 
much depend on visual symbols. 

The dark races, who possess the acutest senses, dis- 
play insensibility to moral beauty, manly virtue, and 
elevated sentiment. They are always ready for sen- 
sual indulgence, and satisfaction is depicted on their 



EEGONOMY. 203 

very countenance. Their affection for a master is so 
ardent, that they will execute the most hazardous 
office to demonstrate their zeal and attachment. Of 
some races inferiority seems to be the natural destiny. 
The Abyssinians are void of cultivated science, and 
sunk into savage degradation ; and, unless Egypt and 
Barbary be exceptions, there is no civilized nation in 
Africa. The flight of centuries seems to extinguish 
all hopes of future amelioration, and to give African 
destiny " a gloom as deep as that which" is " spread 
over their complexion." Tartary, which possesses 
meandering rivers, and extensive plains blooming in 
perennial sweetness, is not enriched with handsome 
villages, flourishing cities, and literary institutions. 

The Caucasian variety excels in intellectual dis- 
cernment, in the nobler feelings of humanity, in the 
accomplishment of the grandest undertakings. Euro- 
peans, in every age, have exhibited a strong tendency 
to high intellectual development and culture. Cities 
were early founded, the . arts were encouraged, and 
literature was cultivated even in tumultuary inter- 
vals. The Etruscans, before the foundation of Rome, 
had established the arts in Italy. Under the Greek 
and Roman empires, the human mind attained a very 
high eminence in literature and the plastic arts. 
After the irruption of the Northern tribes, the sun 
of science emerged from Gothic darkness, and threw 
out its bright beams upon the world. Their elasticity 
of mind, incapable of permanent suppression, gathered 
strength in depression to burst the fetters which 
opposed their intellectual expansion. Oppressive 
laws, neglected education, and religious bigotry, 



204 ERGONOMY. 

counteract, for a season, the noblest gifts of na- 
ture, and plunge into degradation the nations which 
are capable of the highest culture, and the most 
splendid achievements. Intellect, as soon as the ex- 
ternal pressure is removed, stands forth in its original 
grandeur, and comes up to the type assigned by na- 
ture. 

The most prominent characteristic of a people con- 
tinues like the peculiarities of their soil. Some un- 
civilized tribes, from long and acute observation, can 
cross a forest or plain two hundred miles without any 
material deviation, and point to the place of the sun 
when it is intercepted by clouds or fogs. Such tribes, 
however, notwithstanding these extraordinary intellec- 
tual qualities, sicken and die under the shade of high- 
ly civilized life. Ever since the Turks have had pos- 
session of the classic land, they have exerted a wanton 
hostility to taste, by demolishing temples, mutilating 
statues, and defacing elegant sculptures. Some of 
the finest statues, supposed to be the work of Phidias, 
were burned into lime. The Asiatics early arrived at 
a certain stage in the arts, and have never passed a 
certain development. China remains a stereotype 
page, an enduring monument. The Athenians, though 
depressed by haughty tyrants, still possess that quick- 
ness of apprehension, vivacity of temper, and urbanity 
of manners, which distinguished their illustrious an- 
cestors. 

The Grreeks, beyond all other nations of antiquity, 
enjoyed the happiest advantages for the promotion of 
elegant literature. They were encircled with a soft, 
balmy atmosphere, sweetly tempered with cooling sea 



ERGONOMY. 205 

breezes, and blessed with a fertile, varied, and beauti- 
ful landscape. The mildness of their climate favored 
the finest development of the physical and intellectual 
powers, uniting a vigorous constitution with a lively 
imagination and profound sensibility. The serenity 
of the skies, the smooth and glassy sea which sur- 
rounded and indented the coast, harmonized the ruder 
passions, and called forth the finest and noblest feel- 
ings. The nature of their country, its coasts formed 
into gulfs and peninsulas, afforded peculiar facilities 
for social intercourse. Foreign commerce, and the 
freedom of their government, contributed favorable 
influences. 

Amazement at new scenes fed the imagination with 
constant fancies, and rendered the conversation of 
every-day life poetic. They soon became enamored 
of the graceful and beautiful, and nature led them to 
music and poetry. Favoring influences excited every 
faculty to energetic exercise, awakened the choicest 
spirit of poesy, and developed the delicate germ to 
its most elegant maturity. Freshness and raciness 
of thought and expression, were accompanied with 
graceful simplicity and beautiful transparency^ Lan- 
guage was ready to receive its symmetrical form from 
the magic touch of poetry, and its flexibility lent its 
aid readily to poetic requirements. The age of the 
imagination had not yet been mellowed by the critical 
faculty. The mind sat in front of the stage, not be- 
hind the scenes. It was under the illusion of the 
spectacle, and had not watched " the movements of 
the ropes and pulleys." The judgment ripened while 
the imagination began to lose its sparkling brillian- 



206 ERGONOMY. 

cy ; and when imagination was verging towards de- 
crepitude, taste was rising to maturity. The imagi- 
nation, though flagging, now employed better instru- 
ments ; and poetry, for a while, improved while the 
poetic faculty was declining. 

The Grieek language, says Coleridge, had an '° infi- 
nite flexibility," an " indefatigable strength, with the 
complication and the distinctness of nature itself." 
" Words like pictures," " like the gossamer film of 
the summer," imparted " at once the variety and 
picturesqueness of Homer, the gloom and the inten- 
sity of ^^schylus." The language was " not com- 
pressed to the closest by Thucydides, not fathomed 
to the bottom by Plato, not sounding with all its 
thunders, nor lit up with all its ardors under the 
Promethean touch of Demosthenes !" From Athe- 
nian genius have sprung the noblest creations of 
the human intellect, the brilliant fancy, the with- 
ering fire, the plastic imagination, the lively humor, 
the sparkling wit, the majestic comprehension, the 
varied excellence, of succeeding writers. Its spirit 
has consoled the votaries of liberty, the lonely lamp, 
the restless bed, the turbulent tribune, the ignomini- 
ous scaffold. 

The same powers of mind are displayed in the 
poetry of the Grreeks as in their statues. Both are 
exquisite imitations of nature ; the one in marble, the 
other in w^ords. The physical organization of the 
Greeks was susceptible of external impressions, and 
in harmony with external nature. When every thing 
is perceived easily, every thing is perceived in har- 
mony and proportion. Their literature, like their 



ERGONOMY. 207 

temples, has inimitable symmetry, perfect harmony 
of proportion, and noble simplicity. They were en- 
camped in cities, and each morticed to his place in 
society. As each had his station in the political 
machine, he could only subsist by strict subordina- 
tion and regularity. Intensity of observation and 
energy of purpose became necessary characteristics, 
and communicated themselves to art and language. 
The tragic poets were as severe in poetry as in dis- 
cipline. 

The plastic arts attained their highest perfection in 
ancient Greece. The delightfulness of the climate, 
the elegance of the human figure, the views of beau- 
tiful scenery, the rewards bestowed upon artists, the 
application of the arts, the flourishing condition of 
polite literature, contributed to form Grecian genius 
into the finest mould. The human body expanded 
into symmetrical delicacy, and appeared in its most 
attractive charms. So anxious were they to improve 
personal beauty, that of the four wishes of Simonides 
the second was to have a handsome figure. As stat- 
ues were decreed to the victors in tlie public games, 
the artists had models pre-eminent in strength and 
agility. Chrysippus and Cleanthus distinguished 
themselves in the public games before they were 
known as philosophers. Pythagoras carried off the 
prize at Elis, and Plato appeared as a wrestler 
at the Isthmean and Pythian games. The sculptor 
was so highly esteemed, as to have his statue placed 
beside those of the most renowned heroes. The ex- 
cellence of art was estimated by the greatest sages in 
the general assembly, and the able sculptor was con- 



208 ERGONOMT. 

fident of obtaining immortality. The figures are har- 
monized in a magic light, and embodied in the ideal 
loveliness of our most impassioned dreams. Every 
deep emotion of the heart, every wandering frenzy of 
the imagination, was realized in some bewitching 
form. 

The ages of chivalry and romance have stamped 
their character on genius and literature — a character 
diverse from classic symmetry and purity. The Ro- 
mantic style resembles the Grothic architecture with 
its huge columns, flying buttresses, aerial pinnacles, 
curious tracery, budding stones, fretted vaults, inter- 
lacing lights, religious shadows, obscure niches, and 
solemn splendor. In the dissolution of society, each 
person was thrown back into the domestic circle, 
or left to pursue his solitary way to fame and for- 
tune. This age gave birth to all that was constant 
in attachment, adventurous in action, and extravaga.nt 
in invention. The imagination was lost amidst des- 
erts, or suddenly transported to stately palaces echo- 
ing with dance and song. Every thing became con- 
fused and vague ; and the Romantic style, in its 
earlier ages, presents its wild, rich, obscure images 
for modern use. 

Firmness is a prominent trait in the English, who 
advance with determination to execute their various 
purposes. The French excel in the arts of an elegant 
imagination, in the exact sciences, in learning and 
general intellectual cultivation. The manufacture of 
fine porcelain, rich silks, and ornamental work in 
ivory, is congenial to the Asiatics. The Italians 
excel in music and the plastic arts ; the Germans, 



ERGONOMY. 209 

in learned criticism, statistics, book-making, and min- 
ing. The Americans deem it a curse to repose, and 
toil from morning to night, as if to prevent death by 
apathy. They seem to have a steam engine in their 
very constitution, urging to incessant and restless 
activity in building up cities, public works, and flour- 
ishing states. Descendants of a wandering race, they 
exhibit its hereditary propensity ; and through this 
energy of the nomadic mind, mankind have reached 
an unprecedented enlightenment. The huge pyra- 
mids of Egypt characterize the adhesive races ; the 
peculiarity of the Nomades, in their highest cultiva- 
tion, is exhibited in railroads, steamships, and mag- 
netic telegraphs. 

A general tissue of the feelings and propensities, 
gives a sparkling vivacity, a refined taste, a phlegmatic 
industry, or an enterprising spirit. An outline of a 
classification of the temperaments, was attempted by 
the Greek physiologists. The nervous temperament 
imparts an acute sensibility to external impressions. 
The sanguine temperament has a perfection of the 
muscular masses, and can scarcely, with any intel- 
lectual faculties, conduct to philosophic fame. The 
lymphatic constitution is plodding, and not formed 
to disturb the earth with negotiations and conquests. 
The bilious habit exhibits abruptness, impetuosity, 
violence of passion, hardihood in conception, steadi- 
ness and inflexibility in pursuit, and indefatigable 
perseverance in execution. These temperaments are 
blended with one another in various combinations, 
exhibiting an almost endless variety. The propen- 
sities are combined with the proportions of the men- 



210 ERGONOMT. 

tal fiiculties, so that individuals are as distinguishable 
by a peculiarity of intellect as by the features of the 
face. 

One feels a love for fame ; another is deaf to cen- 
sure, and callous to applause. One lays up riches 
which he does not stop to enjoy ; another scatters 
with wasteful prodigality. One fathoms the profun- 
dities of science ; another scarcely gropes through the 
commonest occurrences. One enjoys a perceptible 
pleasure from the contemplation of forms and colors ; 
another sees no beauty except in utility or fitness for 
producing riches or fame. One soars aloft in a tower- 
ing imagination ; another, even in the delirium of a 
fever, never rises to the regions of a brilliant fancy. 
One courts danger ; another shrinks from hazardous 
enterprises and pursuits. One seeks plodding em-. 
l)Ioyments ; another converts relaxation into active 
occupations. 

Taste consists in the power of judging ; genius, in 
the po^Yer of executing — and both are necessary for 
many pursuits. Genius sometimes executes with vigor, 
while taste has not attained its full maturity ; and the 
same man scarcely ever executes with animation, and, 
at the same time, attends to minor and refined graces. 
" Men of splendid talents," says Buhver, " are gener- 
ally too quick, too volatile, too adventurous, and too 
unstable to be much relied on ; whereas, men of com- 
mon ability, in a regular plodding routine of business, 
act with more regularity and certainty. Men of the 
best intellectual ability are apt to strike off suddenly, 
like the tangent of a circle, and cannot be brought into 
their orbits by attraction or gravity. They often act 



ERGONOMY. 211 

with such eccenti icity as to be lost in the vortex of 
their own reveries." Tlieir talent, however, " like the 
fire and the flint," is '-'converted, by solid thinking 
men, to very salutary and noble purposes." Philo- 
sophers of brilliant powers are sometimes so deficient 
in invention, as to be unable to apply their own useful 
discoveries. 

A true genius combines imagination with intuitive 
judgment. Genius is displayed in the utterance of 
harmonious sounds, in the rapid solution of mathe- 
matical questions, in the delicate mixing of beautiful 
colors. One combines commercial, conceptions with 
speed and vivacity ; another, with difficulty and dull- 
ness. Some agriculturists seem to have little more 
imagination than the clods they cleave ; others seem 
to penetrate the nice order of vegetation, and never 
suffer a season to roll over them without wringing 
from it some important secret. In manufacturing 
towns some discover an acuteness of intelligence, a 
rapidity of combination, over their fellows-artisans. 

Some men have a constructive propensity which is 
not limited to particular materials or fashions ; and, 
favored with genius, they improve huts, erect commo- 
dious habitations, construct canoes, build ships, or ex- 
ecute elegant statuary. A susceptibility to perceive, 
a sensibility to enjoy the beautiful, are necessary to 
form a successful artist. The art of designing, which 
is employed in representing forms and actions, is the 
common foundation of the plastic arts. Perspicuity, 
appropriateness, loveliness, and accuracy'', are essential 
traits in allegoric pieces. As the plastic arts repre- 
sent " the characters and passions of the human soul," 



212 ERGONOMY. 

" the dexterity of the hand is of little avail, unless it is 
animated by fancy and guided by the most correct 
taste and observation." So sparing is Nature of high 
artistic genius, that Alexander the Great, in an age of 
celebrated artists, allowed Apelles alone to paint his 
likeness, Lysippus alone to carve his statue, and Pyr- 
goteles alone to sketch his miniature on the precious 
stone. 

Some philosophers delight to investigate the proper- 
ties found in the mineral kingdom ; others, to develop 
and improve the rich fruits and floral beauties "which 
embellish the earth in varied prodigality. Poets have 
sung of agriculture, theologians have extolled its vir- 
tues, and statesmen have returned to pass the evenil:ig 
of life in its calm and peaceful labors. It adds to civil- 
ized refinements, renders home attractive, invigorates 
the mind, chastens the affections, fills the mind with 
grateful emotions, and imparts to a northern climate 
the gorgeousness of an Asiatic summer. Some, on en- 
tering the gates of the animal kingdom, find a combi- 
nation of allurements which fascinate them with a 
magic captivity. ' They behold the nice spontaneity 
which approximates to our own nature, and run over 
with avidity the vast volume of tastes, customs, man- 
ners, propensities, passions, and instincts. 

Some persons derive rules of taste from elegant wri- 
ters, with a facility and rapidity which people of infe- 
rior endowments cannot comprehend. The literati, the 
ornaments of human nature, display beauty spots and 
ornamental graces drawn from the lap of classic ele- 
gance and pastoral simplicity. Some cannot live in 
the atmosphere of common life, but seek a higher region 



ERGONOMY. 213 

for feeling to luxuriate in undisturbed enjoyments. 
They convert the molten breath of sentiment into glit- 
tering but graceful conceits, and dwell in the empire 
of the imagination, which is wider and more prolific 
than that of experience. Some writers, like the naked 
aspect of a wood after conflagration, exhibit a dreary 
darkness without life or verdure. Some, again, have 
the happy genius of raising the meanest, adorning the 
most barren, and diversifying the most familiar topics. 
Their coloring is soft and splendid, their fancy rich and 
copious, their expression easy and forcible, their versi- 
fication flowing and harmonious. 

Some minds, with quick perceptions, take the direc- 
tion of shifting circumstances, and manifest a careless 
and vivacious disposition. A particular consideration 
is not distinctly held up to the mental vision ; and 
their track, like the lines in a navigator's chart, is only 
remarkable for continuousness. This disposition in- 
disposes them to settle into any regular plan of life ; 
or, if a plan be imposed by circumstances, they want 
method and continuity in business and intercourse. 
Such a superficial intellect is unfitted for forming con- 
secutive measures, comprehensive dependencies, and 
tracing out the chain of actual causations. Their spec- 
ulations, like light streaming through the windows of 
an ancient cathedral, are modified by the hues of the 
pictured medium through which they pass. A lumi- 
nous principle, like the entombed lamps of the Rosi- 
crucians, gives them no permanent advantage. They 
view nature in dispersed fragments or in unperspicuous 
aspects, which, like the shapes of moonlight or Ossian's 
ghost, only exhibit dim forms of uncircumscribed 



M4 E R G N M Y. 

shades. They fill up a niche in human life, while 
minds which combine minuteness of detail with com- 
prehensive views, are suited for public employments. 

Many persons are prone to advance an analogy for 
an argument, to infer that the present case is no ex- 
ception to Nature's ordinary arrangements. Without 
reducing their principles to primary elements, they 
abound in strange illusions and impenetrable obscu- 
rity. As they perceive resemblances only, a differ- 
ence in a single point destroys their supposed analogy. 
Their analogies often lead them to erroneous conclu- 
sions, and their fancies, like the mirage of Egyptian 
sands, impose upon their credulous understandings. 
The charm of popular speakers consists in perspicuity 
of statement and copiousness of illustration ; and many 
display fluency of elocution and quickness of appre- 
hension, without being either impressive or profound. 

Minds possessing great individuality are often defi- 
cient in retention and comprehensiveness. Actions, 
like shadows on a mirror, are too fleeting for their ap- 
propriate examination. Not retaining primary percep- 
tions, they must necessarily be deficient in classifi- 
cation, comprehension, and concentrativeness. Such 
minds, like a wind instrument of music, lose the note 
as soon as the original impulse ceases. In some minds 
a variety of emotions becomes intermixed, every senti- 
ment casts its own peculiar light, and the reflection of 
single rays brings the faculties into a fiercer glow. Va- 
rious conceptions give a permanent tinge to the pas- 
sions, and render them inaccessible to other complex- 
ions. Such a mind, like a star which dwells apart, has 
little sympathy with human feelings and frailties. Not 



ERGONOMY, 215 

catching the hues of surrounding nature, it irradiates a 
narrow shrine, like a kindled furnace which throws out 
its intense glare and gloomy grandeur. 

The sciences which depend upon numerous individ- 
ual facts, such as botany and physiology, have many 
eminent professors whose reflective faculties do not rise 
above mediocrity. Endowed with observational facul- 
ties, they inquire of nature for information, and do not 
seek to arrive at new truths by reasoning. They de- 
tect the minutest differences, and make the most bril- 
liant discoveries. The inductive philosophy is success- 
fully promoted by a class of minds formerly excluded 
from scientific pursuits. Possessing a store of indi- 
vidual facts, they find much difficulty in reducing them 
into precise and specific forms. Taking no compre- 
hensive survey, they dissect that which is immediately 
before them, and often strike upon a palpable absurd- 
ity, a contradiction to general principles or more ex- 
tensive analogies. 

A promptitude to observe, a facility to perceive re- 
semblances, a judgment to arrange facts into systems, 
constitute a philosophic genius. He possesses an 
aptitude for observing the commonest occurrences, 
for treasuring up the lessons of experience, for 
assigning every fact to its proper place, for collect- 
ing all his conceptions into a strong mental picture. 
He compares the most opposite actions, perceives 
unsuspected analogies, and draws instructive conclu- 
sions. His prima.ry impressions are clear and vivid, 
his memory is precise and retentive, and his reason- 
ings are conducted in a connected series. He dis- 
plays sagacity in admitting facts, acuteness in form- 



216 ERG ON MY. 

ing classifications, and dexterity in arranging his 
mental resources. His conceptions are retained for 
rigid examination, his arguments are necessary con- 
sequences, and his conclusions are sure deductions 
from his premises. He places facts clearly before 
the mind, passes gracefully to connected topics, and 
centres the parts of a long series into a glowing 
unity. 

Vivacity, richness, and unity, are also necessary 
accomplishments for poets and historians. The lines 
of the picture must be distinctly drawn, the plan 
completely filled up with incidents, and the field 
enlarged with comprehensive views. The unity of 
Virgil is the establishment of ^neas in Italy; that 
of Tasso, the recovery of Jerusalem from the infi- 
dels ; and that of Milton, the expulsion of man from 
paradise. The progressive enlargement of the Roman 
empire, furnishes unity to Livy's history. Polybius 
remarks that the " action is distinct in its beginning, 
determinate in its duration, and clear in its final 
accomplishment." " The Decline and Fall" of the 
same empire, is the action of Gibbon's history ; and 
the vividness of that action constitutes the charm 
of his splendid tragedy. The decay of public spirit, 
the descriptions of barbarous manners, the hostile 
movements on the boundary, pave the way for the 
final catastrophe. 

An ardor for particular pursuits acquires eminence 
under decided disadvantages, and entirely removes 
minor physical defects. Individuals, deprived of the 
use of their hands, have painted and written with 
their toes. Rugendas, who is celebrated for his 



ERGONOMY. 217 

battle pieces, after his right hand became unser- 
viceable, painted with his left hand with the com- 
pletest success. Beaumont, a French advocate, find- 
ing the feebleness of his voice incurable, devoted 
himself to writing memorials for his clients, with 
so much assiduity as to establish a most brilliant 
reputation. Demosthenes, the unrivaled Athenian 
orator, cured an indistinct articulation by placing 
pebbles under his tongue, and strengthened a fee- 
ble voice by declaiming near the noisy waves. 

Blindness, which closes up an important avenue, 
has many examples of distinguished eminence in 
intellectual pursuits. Diodotus, after losing his sight, 
still more assiduously taught geometry and Grecian 
literature ; and Didymus, who was early afflicted with 
blindness, distinguished himself in the seven depart- 
ments which then constituted the whole field of human 
learning. Milton, whose noble intellect supported it- 
self under accumulated pressure, wrote, after his 
calamity of blindness, poetical and philological works 
of extraordinary magnitude. Salinas, who was born 
blind, distinguished himself in science and literature, 
and became a professor in the University of Salaman- 
ca. Blind Harry, the Scotch minstrel, recited verses 
at the feasts of the nobilty, and published a work 
which is still read in a modernized form. Scappinelli, 
who was blind from his birth, held a professor's chair 
successively at Bologna, Modena, and Pisa ; and his 
works, both' in Italian and Latin, are distinguished 
for learning and elegance. Stanley, who lost his sight 
in his second year, stood, for many years, at the head 
of the practitioners of sacred music in England ) and 

10 



218 ERGONOMY. 

Huber of Geneva, after losing his sight, wrote an 
ingenious and original work on the natural history 
of insects. A French lady, who lost her sight in 
her second year, was an elegant writer ; and Nica- 
sius, becoming blind at the same age, taught canon 
and civil law in the University of Cologne, and pos- 
sessed extraordinary erudition. Nicholas Bacon, after 
his blindness, prosecuted legal studies with eminent 
success in Brabant ; and Blacklock, who became blind 
in six months, raised himself from abject poverty, 
embraced every opportunity for improvement, issued, 
poetical publications, and obtained a respectable stand- 
ing among literary characters. 

One blind sculptor made statues in clay ; another- 
in marble, with great taste and accuracy. An Eng- 
lish lady, of liberal education and gay connections, 
being precipitated into blindness and poverty, exe- 
cuted needle-work, preserved personal neatness, and 
published literary performances. Metcalf, who be- 
came blind before he knew the effects of light, 
acted as a guide on intricate roads during the 
night, and as a surveyor of highways in difficult 
and mountainous regions. Count Pagan, during twen- 
ty years of total blindness, devoted himself to mathe- 
matics, and gave to the world various publications. 
Moyes, who had scarcely any visual recollections, 
distinguished himself in literature and mechanics, 
delivered lectures on chemistry and philosophy, and 
contrived a new system of palpable arithmetic. Saun- 
derson, though losing his sight at one year of age, 
distinguished himself in ancient literature, made cal- 
culations with incredible facility, performed algebraic 



E II G N M Y. 219 

operations solely from memory, delivered prelections 
on Newton's Optics, and devoted himself almost en- 
tirely to his pupils. Euler, who calculated himself 
blind, exhibits the wonderful triumphs of mental 
energy over opposing circumstances. His algebra, 
a work translated into every language of Europe, 
is, though dictated to an amanuensis, composed with 
admirable clearness and simplicity. His works enrich 
the Academies of Berlin, Petersburg, and Paris ; the 
mere catalogue of which extends to fifty printed 
pages. 

" Numerous and affecting examples," says Chancel- 
lor Kent, " prove that persons deprived of the faculty 
of hearing," " possess sharp and strong intellects, sus- 
ceptible of extensive acquirements in morals and 
science." Navarete, who lost his hearing at two 
years of age, displayed from infancy the strongest 
passion for drawing. He covered the walls of his 
apartments with pictures, and possessed consider- 
able learning. An English lady, who was both 
deaf and blind, held social intercourse by palpable 
signs, a species of writing which restored a being 
to society from a seclusion almost as complete as 
the grave. 

William Davy, an English clergyman, gave early 
indications of mechanic genius, and diversified his 
classic learning with ingenious mechanism. Renkin, 
a carpenter of Liege, raised the Avaters of the Seine 
to the gardens of Versailles ; and Zabaglia, a common 
carpenter, executed many mechanical contrivances dis- 
tinguished for simplicity and elegance. Ferricino, a 
self-mechanician, constructed a clock at Venice, erect- 



220 ERGONOMY. 

ed a bridge over the Bretna, and made macliines for 
various purposes. The untutored genius of Brindley 
grasped the laws of Nature, solved complicated prob- 
lems, made beneficial applications, executed novel 
machinery, made economical simplifications, brought 
water through rocks to drain mines, carried a canal 
over a navigable river, cut canals through mountains, 
made the elements subservient to his designs, and 
astonished the world by his daring achievements. 
Peter the Great viewed the arts of civilized life with 
an intoxication of surprise, and esteemed an English 
admiral happier than the czar of Muscovy. He de- 
scended from his throne to labor in foreign dock- 
yards, ropewalks, iron-foundries, paper-mills, and 
watchmaker's shops. In his leisure moments he 
took lessons in mathematics, navigation, a.natomy, 
languages, and the elegant arts. On his return to 
Russia, he entered into familiar conversation with 
the peasantry concerning their furniture and farm- 
ing implements. He taught his people navigation, 
agriculture, and manufactures, founded schools, acad- 
emies, colleges, and museums, and introduced a flour- 
ishing civilization into a barbarous country. 

Of Polygnotus of Thasos, Aristotle remarks that 
" color in his hand was the organ of expression ;" and 
ApoUodorus displayed the " tones of color, light and 
shade." Zeuxis painted fruit which beguiled birds ; 
but Parrhasius painted a curtain which deceived 
Zeuxis. Apelles, in his contest with Protogenes 
of Rhodes, drew lines with difi'erent colors, one 
within the other — an exploit astonishing to artists. 
Angelo, "the salt of art," exhibits magnificence of 



ERGONOMY. 221 

conception and execution, with beauty only in sub- 
serviency to grandeur. In his epic performances, like 
Homer's poetry, the simplicity of the whole unites 
magnificence of plan with endless variety in the sub- 
ordinate parts. The sublime circle of the Sistine 
chapel, exhibits " the origin, the progress, and the 
final dispensations of the Theocracy." " He person- 
ifies motion in the cartoons of Pisa," embodies " sen- 
timent on the monument of Lorenzo," unravels " the 
features of meditation in the prophets and sybils of 
the chapel of Sextus, and traces every attribute that 
varies the human body," " every passion which sways 
the human heart," in " The Last Judgment." His 
Yenus only wants " the last breath of inspiration 
to cause the marble mass to start into life." 

Raphael, who transmits the features of nature like 
a lucid glass, pleases the beholder with softness and 
beauty. Delicacy and afi'ection, refinement and senti- 
ment, render his style " winning and delusive." The 
art of Porta gave gradation to color, form and masses 
to drapery, and caused figures to stand out in perfect 
relief from the canvas. Caravaggi, recommended his 
forms " by ideal light and shade ;" and Rembrandt, by 
" a kind of magic," " placed every tone in its proper 
place," and preserved " the flower and freshness of the 
colors." Giotto, to attest his ability, " drew a perfect 
circle" " with one stroke." Leonardo, possessing all 
the elements of genius, favored by education and cir- 
cumstances, supped with peasants, provoked their 
laughter, studied their rustic expressions, executed 
splendid paintings, and expired in the embrace of a 
king. 



222 ERGONOMY. 

Berruguette enriched Saragossa, Yalladolid, Sala- 
manca, and Madrid with paintings ; and Rubens, who 
was remarkable for his depth of coloring, received 
honorable attentions from the sovereigns of England, 
Spain, and other countries. In his infancy, Titian 
colored a print in a masterly manner with the juice 
of flowers, and the beholder often passes uncovered 
by his portrait of the Roman pontiff. From the lowly 
toil of a potter, Correggio conceived himself a painter, 
struggled long with poverty and neglect, and gave to 
his pictures a magic harmony which affects us with 
" the soft emotions of a delicious dream." 

Torrigiano, a Florentine, enriched the cities of 
Andalusia with sculptures ; and Canova, a Yenetian, 
from his early study of antiques, succeeded in endow- 
ing his statues with classic elegance. Without pre- 
vious instruction, Flaxman began to practise sculpture 
as a profession, executed the monument to Lord Mans- 
field in Westminster Abbey, and sculptured from 
Homer's description the shield of Achilles, repre- 
senting astric, rural, and urban scenery, with more 
than one hundred human figures. Thorwaldsen called 
the time of his entrance into Rome his birthday ; and 
Maria Louisa, daughter of Louis Philippe, was, at the 
time of her death, executing a statue for public exhi- 
bition. 

Perrier, a poor boy at Lyons, went on foot to Rome, 
and, after studying its monuments of genius, obtained 
a high reputation among artists at Paris. Lorraine, 
an apprentice to a pastry-cook, performed the lowest 
offices to painters in Rome, and rose to a rare emi- 
nence. Rosa, whose genius was nourished in sorrows. 



EKGONOMY. 223 

supported his mother from the sale of his pictures, 
studied the arts of Rome with such intensity as to 
bring on a fever, and considered his consequent re- 
moval from that celebrated city as an exile. Ribera, 
after struggling with indigence, found himself in the 
palace of a cardinal ; but, finding his attention relaxed 
by luxury, he returned to laborious poverty, verifying 
a beautiful fiction of Xenophon, the choice of Her- 
cules. 

Benjamin West, at the age of seven years, delinea- 
ted on paper the features of an infant child sleeping 
in its cradle. He took hair from a favorite cat to 
make pencils, and colored his pictures with indigo 
and red and yellow ochres. Obtaining paints and 
pencils, he was so fearful that his treasure was only 
a dream, that he put out his hand to feel them at 
night. Many incidents indicate a wonderful preco- 
city ; and some inventive touches of art were not 
excelled in his subsequent essays. He commenced 
portrait painting at fifteen, and soon after drew the 
death of Socrates, which induced him to study human 
anatomy. At twenty-one he embarked for Italy, and 
after seven years, went to England. His first paint- 
ing in that country, the story of Pylades and Orestes, 
established his fame. The king appreciating his 
genius, became his munificent patron for thirty 
years, during which time he painted many histor- 
ical and allegorical pictures from sacred and pro- 
fane history. 

Jarvis Spencer, a menial servant, became a celebrat- 
ed miniature painter ; Joseph Highmore, a solicitor's 
apprentice, enjoyed a high reputation for historical 



224 X EEGONOMY. 

pieces ; Richard Wright, a ship painter, is much cel- 
ebrated for his sea pieces ; and Sawry Gilpin, a com- 
mon painter, is distinguished for the faithful delinea- 
tion of animals painted in fanciful groups. Gaines- 
borough, while a mere boy, employed himself all day 
in drawing the objects presented in the woods or 
pasture fields ; and his deep sensibility for natural 
beauty, gives his landscapes a perfect fidelity and 
an inexpressible charm. James Barry, a ship boy, 
covered the deck with sketches, and spent his scanty 
means in purchasing books and candles. A picture 
which he placed in Dublin, excited so much admira- 
tion that the young ascetic became the favorite of 
the gayest circles in his native metropolis. He soon 
withdrew from society, passed a life of incessant toil, 
wore the coarsest clothes, lived upon the humblest 
fare, and engraved for bread while he was finishing 
his magnificent paintings. Thomas Lawrence, the 
first portrait painter of his age, exhibited remarka- 
ble precocity. He attracted customers to his father's 
inn, and, notwithstanding his illiteracy, became painter 
to the Dilettanti Society, and painted a few moments 
before he expired. 

Some of the ancient philosophers parted with their 
inheritances, to preclude interruptions in their favor- 
ite pursuits. The master of Socrates bid adieu to his 
possessions in Ionia, repaired to Athens, and gave 
lessons for support after his estate was gone. Alfred 
of England, who measured his time by the burning of 
candles, contrived a horn lamp ; Haroun al Raschid, 
an excellent poet, was distinguished in various learn- 
ing ; and Charlemagne, who gave his leisure to study, 



ERGONOMY. 225 

executed some literary performances. Marcus Aure- 
lius attended philosophic lectures, and attempted to 
restore Athens to the eminence of a literary metrop- 
olis. Bayle had a strong sympathy for a secluded 
life ; Democritus left rich treasure at home to go 
into India for information, Spain owes her earliest 
national history, her translation of the Scriptures, the 
restoration of her principal university, the introduc- 
tion of her vernacular tongue in public proceedings, 
and her celebrated astronomical tables, to Alphonso 
the Tenth. Alphery, who had a title to the throne 
of Russia, lived a pious life in England. William 
Drummond was so well satisfied with philosophy and 
the muses, that he refrained from mingling in political 
agitations and anxieties. Napier, the inventor of log- 
arithms, had an ampler reward than can be attained in 
political hazards and vexations. 

Bacon made an exact sounding of the human capa- 
city, and what was wanting to advance the sciences to 
their full accomplishment. His observations take a 
wide range, a fine profundity, a bold comprehension. 
His induction is wonderful for learning and vivacity, 
for curiosity and dignity. He had great sagacity of 
observation, solidity of judgment, and scope of fancy. 
He surveyed the road of induction, called public atten- 
tion to that inexhaustible source of true philosophy, 
and removed the cloud which had previously concealed 
the only true route to science. As the sun first illu- 
minates the hills, so the rays of discovery first darted 
upon his lofty mind. He looked around from his lone- 
ly elevation upon future prospects ; and, where the 
multitude saw a sterile desert or deceitful mirage, 

10* 



226 ERGONOMY. 

he extended his vision to fertilizing rivers and diver- 
sified landscapes. Some minds, like an atlas, give the 
distances of cities ; the intellect of Bacon, like a globe, 
sketched out the whole earth. When he descended to 
particulars, he became fantastic and visionary. He 
"was grand in reflection, not in construction. Bacon, 
like Moses, leads his followers to the verge of science ; 
and other philosophers, like Joshua, usher them into 
the promised land. 

Tournefort, while very young, displayed an enthusi- 
astic fondness for botany. Though designed for a 
profession, he was at length permitted to indulge, 
without restraint, his favorite pursuit. He ranged 
over the Alps and Pyrenees, collecting plants, often 
periling his life from banditti, precipices, and gla- 
ciers. Linnaeus, who was designed for the sacred 
oflSce, left his study to gather flowers. His father 
attributing this taste to frivolity of mind, was about 
to put him to mechanical employments ; but, through 
the solicitation of friends, he was placed in a situation 
favorable to his peculiar talent. He was ennobled for 
his success, and called the Northern Light. Michael 
Adanson abandoned divinity for botany, and explored 
the banks of the Senegal, in the belief that the un- 
healthiness of the climate w^ould, for a long time, pre- 
vent its visitation by naturalists. John Bartram, a 
farmer of Pennsylvania, cultivated botany with such 
success as to be pronounced by Linnaeus, " the great- 
est natural botanist in the world." In the intervals 
of agricultural labor, he made excursions to Canada 
herborizing with intense delight, and, at the age of 



ERGONOMY. 227 

seventy, performed a journey of botanic exploration 
to Florida. 

Humphrey Davy, during his solitary rambles, some- 
times sighed aloud for fame. The rocky coast of 
Cornwall and the sea-weed cast ashore, were the 
materials which afforded food for his inquisitive 
mind ; and, being placed with an apothecary, he 
forgot his professional avocations, rambled the coun- 
try for minerals, and experimented in the garret, 
sometimes to the danger of the whole establishment. 
To ascertain the nature of the air contained in the 
bladders of sea-weed, he took gallipots from the shop, 
pans from the kitchen, and converted an elegant sur- 
gical instrument into an air-pump. His success as an 
experimentalist, w^as partly attributable to his early 
necessities. The scientific world was astonished at 
his application of galvanic energy to composition and 
decomposition, at his inference that electricity was 
identical with chemical affinity. The French Insti- 
tute, in forgetfulness of national jealousy, awarded 
to him the first prize. He found the metallic bases 
of the alkalies, and exhibited their curious properties. 
His safety lamp, for lighting miners in the midst of 
explosive mixtures, was constructed upon the princi- 
ples of flame ; and his invention for protecting the 
copper sheathing of ships, resulted from his electro- 
chemical experiments. His writings exhibit the ele- 
gant scholar as well as the accomplished philosopher. 

Scheele, an apprentice to an apothecary, secretly 
prosecuted chemical studies at night, experimented in 
the garret, and alarmed the house with detonations. 
He was at last discharged, for no menaces could deter 



228 ERGONOMY. 

him from such dangerous pursuits. Lavoisier, when 
brought to the guillotine, requested time to finish 
some important experiments in agricultural chem- 
istry. Henry Cavendish dedicated his life to phi- 
losophy, with a zeal which no change of fortune could 
suppress. He watched his experiments with the 
acutest observation, and obtained results which had 
baffled less careful experimentalists. His discovery 
of the composition of water, his contributions to elec- 
tricity, his determinations in pneumatic chemistry, 
rank among the most brilliant achievements. His 
writings, which embrace a period of fifty years, are 
marked by accuracy, originality, and elegance. He 
established an extensive library, which was accessible 
to all scientific inquirers ; and Biot, a French writer, 
says that Cavendish was the richest of the learned, 
and the most learned of the rich. 

The genius of Rumford, whose fortune was lost 
during his infancy, soon prompted to philosophic 
pursuits. His splendid discoveries in the principles 
of light and heat, were successfully applied to advance 
domestic economy and relieve suffering humanity. 
His lamp threw out a mass of flame, and his arrange- 
ment of colors produced the most agreeable eff"ects. 
The principles of heat were employed in the prepara- 
tion of clothing, in the construction of cooking appa- 
ratus, in the erection of furnaces for warming large 
establishments. Smoke was not suff'ered to quit his 
apartment till it was almost cold. He determined 
the most nutritive substances, and the best mode of 
their preparation for use. 

The philosophic Franklin rose from the deepest 



ERGONOMY. 229 

obscurity to the highest distinction, and, without 
instructors, enriched himself with science and liter- 
ature. Electricity was beginning to attract the at- 
tention of the ablest philosophers ; and his acute 
genius suggested a beautiful generalization, which 
diffused order into unintelligible contradictions. As 
electricity and lightning had many known resem- 
blances, he proceeded to test their identity by actual 
experiment. He brought down lightning into his 
house, experimented with it at his leisure, and 
guarded buildings from its destructive effects. To- 
wards the close of a long life, the patriot is seen 
casting a splendor over the philosopher. The once 
tallow-chandler is seen standing before kings, making 
treaties for mighty nations. 

The propitious lot of Boyle furnished facilities for 
passing life in the most various and excursive studies. 
Science was a profession from which no temptation 
could seduce his mind, and he met his associates at 
an apothecary shop to obtain drugs for experiments. 
His whole life was spent in experimenting, in collect- 
ing facts, in constant correspondence, in improving 
instruments, in studying natural history. Pascal, 
by tracing figures on the floor, demonstrated geo- 
metrical propositions ; and Rittenhouse drew dia- 
grams on his plow, to study at his rural occupa- 
tions. Ferguson observed the places of the stars 
by a thread with beads ; and Brahe, from measuring 
angular distances with a pair of compasses, proceeded 
to erect an observatory with appropriate instruments. 
Christopher Arnold, a peasant near Leipsic, erected 
an observatory at his dwelling-house, discovered many 



230 BRGONOMY. 

phenomena sooner than other astronomers, and ob- 
tained great celebrity from his observation of a transit 
of Mercury. 

Newton lodged at the house of an ^tpothecary, and 
devoted himself to scientific contrivances as auxiliary 
to his favorite studies. With characteristic modesty 
he compares himself to a " boy playing on the sea- 
shore," finding sometimes " a prettier shell than 
ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all 
undiscovered before" him. Kepler, whose life was 
spent in poverty, declared that he would not ex- 
change the authorship of his writings for the whole 
duchy of Saxony. Lagrange, the illustrious math- 
ematician, made his way from poverty to fame and 
fortune. Shaefi'er, the naturalist, lived on a scanty 
fare at the university, and without fire during a 
rigorous winter. Samuel Parkes first appears as 
an apprentice to a grocer, then in business as a 
soap-boiler, then as a manufacturer of chemical pre- 
parations, then as a popular writer on science. 
Though engaged in an extensive manufactory, he 
found time to write books, and to contribute to 
periodical literature. 

Hesiod, though defrauded of his patrimony, obtained 
a sufficiency by his writings for himself and for chari- 
ty ; and Pindar, of low origin, was courted by princes, 
and died in a public theatre. Piautus, a slave, gained 
by his plays large sums, which he lost in commercial 
speculations ; and Terence, a slave, gained so much 
by his comedies as to marry his daughter to a noble 
Roman, and to leave a splendid house with elegant 
gardens. Rowe, Hughs, Philips, Locke, Stepney, 



ERGONOMY. 231 

Prior, Gay, Montague, Mainwaring, Tickell, and 
Addison, obtained offices under the British govern- 
ment. 

" Of the great application and perseverance of Chi- 
nese students, many anecdotes are given in the native 
works." " One tied his hair to a beam of the house, 
in order to prevent him from falling asleep, whilst 
another bored a hole through the wall of his cottage, 
that he might study by the glimmer of his neighbor's 
light. One poor lad suspended his book on the horns 
of a buffalo that he might learn even whilst he follow- 
ed the plow ;" another performed, the duties of a do- 
mestic servant with such promptness, that he found 
time to retire to a corner for " diligent composition." 

Exile and imprisonment have been irradiated by 
literary labors. Ovid, the son of a noble Roman, 
wrote his celebrated classic AYorks among the Getse, 
and composed poems in a barbarous language to 
amuse his new associates. Boethius, while under 
sentence of death at Pisa, wrote his Consolations of 
Philosophy ; and Don Quixote, a classic in Spanish 
literature, was written by Cervantes in a dungeon. 
James brought to the Scottish throne the literary 
taste which he had acquired in his exile, exhibited 
before his people the graces and attractions of literary 
cultivation, and seduced them by the charm of his ex- 
ample to elegant and intellectual accomplishments. 
Prynne wrote as actively in imprisonment as at 
liberty ; Maggi, during a toilsome captivity, com- 
posed erudite works ; and Tasso, in a cell at Fer- 
rara, produced several of his ablest minor pieces. 
A French translation of the Scriptures was made 



232 ERGONOMY. 

by Saci in the Bastile ; Lorenzani relieved an im- 
prisonment of nearly twenty years by writing on 
Conic Sections ; and the celebrated Madam Roland, 
just before her execution, wrote her Memoirs with 
such composure that her manuscript exhibited scarce- 
ly an erasure. Sir Walter Raleigh displayed as much 
activity in public affairs, as reflection in studious soli- 
tude. During every variety of hazardous adventure, 
he devoted four hours every day to study ; and his 
History of the World, an English classic, was written, 
with other performances, in the Tower. 

Bullenger, an eminent biblical scholar, supported 
himself at school by singing in the streets ; and Mus- 
culus, after begging for an education, continued to la- 
bor for support, and became eminent in Hebrew litera- 
ture. Postellus, a domestic in college, often forgot his 
meals, and, by his own efforts, distinguished himself in 
ancient and modern languages. The celebrated Mar- 
montel received his education through charity ; and 
Samuel Johnson was scantily maintained at college, 
ostensibly as a companion to a gentleman's son. An 
indigent boy, who read by the street lamps, became a 
Roman pontiff; and Lagrange, the French translator 
of Lucretius, used to eat his scanty morsel during the 
interval of recitations in the university. The late 
learned Doctor Parr, after a long succession of strug- 
gles with indigence and misfortune, took his stand 
among the greatest scholars of his age. 

Magliabecchi, a Florentine, ate and slept in his 
library, and accumulated multifarious learning. Robert 
Hill, a tailor, lived in extreme poverty, allowed him- 
self only three hours' sleep, and devoted himself to 



ERGONOMY. 233 

classical studies. Henry Wild, another tailor, made, 
"within seven years, high proficiency in the oriental and 
European languages. Purvier, a shepherd, niad^ a 
version of the Scriptures ; and Pendrell, in an humble 
station, was profound in mathematics and literature. 
Allan Ramsey, the author of the Gentle Shepherd, 
was a barber — an occupation seemingly uncongenial to 
pastoral poetry. Thomas Holcroft, the author of Hugh 
Trevor, in early life followed his mother in selling 
greens and oysters, often suffered severely with hun- 
ger and fatigue, studied music in a hayloft, and left 
works of established popularity. 

Alexander Murray, whose father taught him letters 
on a wool-card, struggled with poverty, extended the 
bounds of human learning, erected a splendid monu- 
ment of learned ingenuity, and delivered the most 
learned lectures on oriental literature, to admiring au- 
diences, in a celebrated university. To Robert Burns 
no book was so voluminous as to slacken his industry, 
so antiquated as to damp his researches ; no misfor- 
tune so severe as to repress his zeal for information, 
no form of indigence so withering as to prevent his ex- 
tensive acquaintance with literature. William Gifford, 
when in the humblest station, beat out pieces of leather, 
and wrought out problems on them with an awl ; but a 
long and prosperous life, during which he acquired a 
distinguished reputation, was an ample remuneration 
for his early humiliations and hardships. 

Sophocles preserves simplicity and harmony, relies 
on form and proportion, charms with union and regu- 
larity, and proceeds with natural grace and unobtrusive 
delicacy. Shakspeare has richness and power, variety 



234 ERGONOMY. 

and complexity, strangeness and contrast, novelty and 
magnificence. He unites " purity of heart and the 
gl^w of the imagination, s\Yeetness and dignity of man- 
ners, and passionate violence, in one ideal picture," 
which fills the mind with the gentlest warmth, the 
gayest hopes, and the brightest fancies. The pious 
page of Jeremy Taylor glows with enchanting imagery, 
blushes with modest beauty, and never clogs with same- 
ness. He rains " sacrificial roses," crowns life with 
gaudy garlands, and mingles death's head, with ama- 
ranthine flowers. Sir Thomas Brown has a passion 
for the abstruse and imaginary, for swelling drapery 
and impenetrable riddles. He embraces both poles, 
marches over chronology, scoops antitheses from fabu- 
lous antiquity, and rakes up epithets " from the sweep- 
ings of chaos." 



CHAPTER IX. 



DIVISIONS. 



Particular commodities are elaborated in partic- 
ular locations, by distinct laborers. The earth, seem- 
ingly so shapeless and disorderly, exhibits, by its ac- 
curate adaptations and reciprocal dependencies, a vast 
spectacle of order and beauty. The collocation of min- 
erals, the station of plants, the habitation of animals, 
cause territorial divisions in human industry. The 
metals, alkalies, salts, combustibles, rocks, and precious 
stones, occur in particular formations. Variations in 
temperature, light, moisture, and soil, often observable 
within a few miles, are suitable to some vegetable va- 
riety. Some plants have such a peculiar habitation, 
that a small surface furnishes the whole world with a 
particular commodity. The several species of animals 
flourish in regions which suit their peculiar economy. 
The gradations of taste, intellect, and education, parti- 
tion the various parts of an elaboration among distinct 
laborers. 

I. Of all the metals, iron seems to be the most ex- 
tensively diffused — occurring in Africa, India, Japan, 
Britain, France, Sweden, Russia, Spain, and in " every 
state" in the American confederacy. English iron of 
a fibrous texture occurs in secondary deposits, chiefly 



236 ERGONOMY. 

in the coal formations." " A mine in Salisbury, Con- 
necticut, yields three thousand tons annually." Ten- 
nessee annually manufactures ten thousand tons ; and 
the mines in two counties of New York afford twenty 
thousand tons of ore. Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and 
Virginia, possess iron ore in exhaustless quantities. 
" Out of the forty-four thousand square miles which 
form the area of Pennsylvania, there are ten thousand 
miles of coal and iron." " In Ohio twelve hundred 
square miles are underlaid with iron ;" and a certain 
region explored a few years ago, " furnishes iron sixty- 
one miles long and six wide." Each " square mile 
■would yield three million tons of pig iron," and, " by 
taking four hundred thousand tons annually," it " would 
last two thousand seven hundred years." The most 
noted chalybeate waters of Britain, are those of Tun- 
bridge and Brighton. The chromate of iron occurs in 
Europe, America, and Shetland ; and graphite, a car- 
buret of iron, is found in great purity at Borrowdale, 
in Cumberland. 

Tin, found in rounded grains among rolled materials, 
is most abundant in Cornwall and Banca. Arsenic, 
the ores of which form brilliant colors, is chiefly pro- 
cured from Germany and the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, and chiefly manufactured in Bohemia and 
Hungary. Antimony and bismuth, two brittle metals 
used in printing types, are obtained from Auvergne 
and Germany. The principal ore of nickel is found 
in Westphalia ; and platinum is chiefly procured from 
Brazil and the Ural mountains. The principal mines 
of mercury are at Idria, in Carniola, and at Almoden, 
in Spain. Lead is found in great quantities in Eng- 



E R G N M Y. 237 

land, Scotland, and Missouri. The lead region of 
Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, occupies nearly three 
thousand square miles. Fifty million pounds of lead 
are annually registered at Galena, and sometimes three 
million pounds await exportation. The chromate of 
lead, used as a pigment, is found in Siberia. Copper, 
which occurs in Sweden, Cuba, and New Jersey, is 
found in vast masses near lake Superior. 

Iodine, discovered by Courtois and described by 
Clement, is found in sea-weed and marine animals. 
Bromine, which was discovered by Belard, has been 
detected in the waters of the Mediterranean, Baltic, 
and Dead seas, and in saline springs in England and 
Germany. Carbonate of strontia occurs native in 
Strontian, in Argyleshire. The borate from which the 
borax of commerce is obtained, occurs native in some 
of the lakes of Thibet and Persia. Boracic acid is 
found in the hot springs of Lipari, and in those of 
Sasso in the Florentine territory. Amianthus, the 
most delicate variety of asbestos, comes from Corsica 
and Savoy. Common asbestos occurs in Anglesey ; 
mountain leather, in Lanarkshire ; mountain wood, in 
Scotland, Dauphiny, and the Tyrol. Siberia contains 
magnets of extraordinary size, and even whole moun- 
tains of loadstone. 

The principal deposits of rock salt are in Spain, 
Hungary, Poland, Caramania, and South America. 
Extensive formations exist in Germany and Austria, 
on both sides of the Carpatliian mountains. Rock 
salt, according to Char din, is so abundant in Caramania 
that the inhabitants use it for building houses. A 
plain of salt in Abyssinia is about four days' journey 



238- ERGONOMY. 

across ; and the salt, -which is like consolidated snow, 
is cut and carried off by caravans. Kentucky, besides 
its own consumption, furnishes considerable salt for 
Ohio and Tennessee. 

Alum occurs native in Northumberland in England ; 
and alum and copperas beds are found in Virginia and 
Missouri. Soda, as a mineral, is found in Hungary, 
Egypt, India, Siberia, Mexico, and New Granada. 
Sesquicarbonate of soda occurs native on the banks of 
the lakes of soda in the province of Lukena, in Africa. 
Nitre occurs in Spain, Hungary, Persia, Arabia,, India, 
Java, Naples, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Epsom, 
Bath, and Bristol, are noted for saline waters ; and 
the waters of Saratoga and Ballston are extensively 
exported to other countries. 

In cold countries, suitable for a dense population, 
mineral coal is almost invariably found. Of the exten- 
sive localities of coal, none occur within the tropics. 
" The United States contain, according to the best 
estimates, not less than eighty thousand square miles 
of coal, which is about sixteen times as much as the 
coal measures in all Europe. A single one of these 
gigantic masses runs about nine hundred miles from 
Pennsylvania to Alabama, and must itself embrace fifty 
thousand square miles, equal to the whole surface of 
England proper." On the James river near Richmond, 
is a region twenty miles long, rich in bituminous coal, 
from which a;as is obtained for liiihtino: New York and 
Philadelphia. The coal shipped from England in one 
year, was seven million tons. The black coal and the 
cherry coal of a slaty texture, occur in Staifordshire ; 
and brown coal is found in Devonshire, Iceland, Saxony, 



ERGONOMY. 239 

and Styria. A coal which is used for brilliant lights, 
illuminating gas, and ornamental snuff-boxes, is found 
at Wigan, in Lancashire. 

Sulphur occurs particularly in the vicinity of volca- 
noes, as in Sicily and Italy. At Solfaterra it is pre- 
cipitated in a pure state, and pits are dug for obtaining 
sulphuric acid. Sulphate of ammonia, in the form of 
stalactites, is found in Tuscany, also in the lavas of 
Etna and Vesuvius. Naphtha and petroleum are found 
in Europe, Persia, and the West Indies. Asphaltum, 
used for varnish, is found on the surface of the Dead 
Sea, and occurs abundantly in Barbadoes and Trinidad. 
Elastic bitumen, a rare mineral pitch, is found only in 
the Odin mine near Castleton, in Derbyshire ; and 
retinasphaltum, consisting of bitumen and resin, is 
found associated with the brown coal of Bovey, in 
Derbyshire. 

The greatest deposit of gypsum is that of Paris, 
extending twenty leagues. The baths of San Filippo 
are so impregnated with sulphate of lime, that the 
vapor falling on medallions forms beautiful casts. 
Chalk is found in England, France, Ireland, Spain, 
Germany, Italy, and Poland. In the Isle of Wight the 
harder kinds are employed as building stones. It is 
used in the construction of docks at Dover ; and of the 
ancient buildings made of this material, the Abbey of 
St. Omar is said still to retain all its beautiful Gothic 
ornaments. Oolite, a variety of common limestone, is 
employed in St. Paul's church and Somerset House, 
The bituminous limestone of Dalmatia cuts like soap, 
and is used for building. 

The primitive marble of Pares and Carrara, is cele- 



240 ERGONOMY. 

brated for fine grain and dazzling whiteness. Alabas- 
ter is found near Coblentz, in Germany ; near Cluny, 
in France ; near Rome, in Italy. The Italian ala- 
baster is noted for whiteness and appropriateness for 
large statues. The Komans also obtained alabaster 
from Cyprus, Spain, and Africa. Many quarries of 
granular gypsum are worked in Nottingham and Der- 
byshire in England. Egypt, Spain, France, and the 
British Isles, abound in colored marbles of every 
shade, often variegated with clouds, veins, and spots. 
Devonshire contains a marble which resembles Egyp- 
tian granite. At Milford, in Connecticut, are quarries 
of yellow and green variegated marble of uncommon 
beauty, resembling the verde antique. The brecciated 
marble on the Potomac, is finely diversified with peb- 
bles and fragments of various sizes and colors. 

In various locations in England, are quarries of free- 
stone for architectural purposes. On the Kennebec 
river, in Maine, slate is obtained in tables ten feet 
square ; and fine slates for roof occur in several coun- 
ties in Pennsylvania. The Derbyshire hills, in Eng- 
land, afi'ord a variety of beautiful stones for vases and 
ornaments. Jet, admitting a high polish, is obtained 
from France, Sweden, Grermany and Ireland. The 
finest azure stone, a beautiful blue, comes from China, 
Persia, and Great Bucharia. Lazulite comes from 
Styria and Shalzburg ; figure-stone, from China and 
Transylvania ; moon-stone and argentine, from Persia, 
Arabia, and Ceylon. Black chalk occurs in Isla and 
Caernarvonshire ; agatized wood, in the United States 
and West Indies. Emery is found in great quantities 
in Naxos ; and adamantine spar, employed like emery 



ERGONOMY. 241 

for polishing, comes from Hither India and China. 
Ambergris is found floating near the Moluccas, Mada- 
gascar, Sumatra, Coromandel, Brazil, China, Japan, 
and Africa. Amber, which is often made into orna- 
ments, is almost entirely from the alluvions on tho 
shores of the Baltic, in Prussia. It has been found 
near London, also near Trenton, Woodbury, and Cam- 
den, in New Jersey. 

Aqua marina, a precious stone, is found in the 
United States ; resinous garnet, in Norway and Cey- 
lon. The hyacinth comes from Ceylon ; the chalce- 
dony from Cornwall ; the chrysolite, from Egypt and 
Bohemia. The finest emeralds come from Peru and 
New Granada ; the finest sapphires, from Burmah and 
Ceylon. The topaz is chiefly obtained from Siberia, 
Bohemia, Saxony, England, and Scotland ; the most 
beautiful jaspers, from Germany, Scotland, Egypt, and 
the East Indies. Siberia and Germany supply the 
finest agates, which contain regular or beautifully vari- 
egated figures. The diamond is almost exclusively 
obtained from India, Borneo, and Brazil. The dia- 
monds of Brazil, chiefly found in Minas Geraes, are 
washed from sand beds by numerous laborers. 

Some plants flourish within the tropics ; some, 
within the polar circles. The degree of heat causes 
great varieties in vegetation. In warm climates, leaves 
serve as fans and umbrellas ; in cold countries they 
are suited for reverberating the heat, for resisting the 
impetuosity of the winds. Some plants bloom on the 
mountain ; some, in the solitary waste ; some, near the 
running stream ; some, in the mighty waters. On its 

11 



242 ERGON MY. 

own native home, a plant grows spontaneously in lux- 
uriant beauty. 

Vegetation is most vigorous in the torrid zone, and 
the ligneous plants increase towards the equator. The 
silk cotton tree, a native of Africa, is so large as to 
shelter twenty thousand persons. The teak of India, 
which is used for ship building, surpasses the oak in 
firmness and durability ; and the mighty baobab, on 
the banks of the Senegal, attains a circumference of 
sixty or seventy feet. The calabash tree extends its 
branches over a barren soil, affords shelter for a tribe, 
and administers food to appease their hunger. The 
fan palm of India is so large that one leaf will cover 
ten men ; and the banyan, which strikes its branches 
into the ground, forms beautiful arbors half a mile in 
circuit. The largest banyan has three thousand stems, 
and is capable of supplying seven thousand men with 
fruit and shade. 

The torrid zone yields the jnost fragrant spices, and 
the most luscious fruits. The cahoon, banana, cocoa- 
nut, pine-apple, orange, lemon, plantain, grow with 
such rich luxuriance that their very fragrance is 
oppressive to strangers. The West Indies, for two 
centuries, supplied the world with tropical produce. 
The cocoanut tree, a native of most equinoctial coun- 
tries, affords food, clothing, and shelter for the respect- 
ive inhabitants. In some deserts, vegetable pitchers 
contain water for refreshing travelers, and the tama- 
rind allays thirst by its refreshing juice. 

The lower latitudes of the temperate zones yield 
the vine, mulberry, olive, wheat, barley, oats, buck- 
wheat, and cotton, which is so extensively used for 



ERGONOMY. 243 

clothing. In the higher latitudes of these zones, 
hemp and flax are raised in perfection, the pastures 
are verdant with grass, and the forests yield the oak, 
elm, apple, pear, cherry, currant, and gooseberry. The 
surface of New Brunswick is covered with magnificent 
trees, which the lumberers drag to the rivers for float- 
ing down Avhen the ice melts in the spring. Mints, 
natives of temperate regions, are abundant in hot ex- 
posed situations, in meadows and groves. 

The birch supports an intensity of cold which con- 
geals mercury. Condolle found snow-drops in blossom 
beneath ice on Mount Seleve ; and Parry discovered 
many plants in full leaf and ready to blossom while 
encased in ice. The pine, fir, cedar, and other resin- 
ous plants, furnish light and fuel for the rainy season, 
and commodities for other climates. Towards the pole 
every species of vegetables which yield food for man, 
entirely fails, and nothing appears but dwarf trees, 
bushes, and mosses. The moss of the Tyrol, as well 
as that of Switzerland, is remarkable for a bright 
smoothness approaching enamel. Mosses which cover 
the mantle of winter with verdure, shelter the roots, 
seeds, and germs of the more serviceable vegetables. 
The Lapps use moss for beds, for stopping crevices, 
for packing brittle wares, for dyes and medicines. 
Moss furnishes almost the sole food for the reindeer, 
so indispensable to the Lapps ; and this variety grows 
six times as large in Lapland as in Central Europe. 

Temperature is so afi'ected by elevation, that at fif- 
teen thousand seven hundred and thirty feet, the 
mountains based on the most scorching plains, are 
capped with perpetual snow. The climate of Equa- 



244 ERGONOMY. 

dor, at an elevation of nine thousand five hundred 
feet, is that of perpetual spring, with fields and trees 
clad in perpetual verdure. The larger Asiatic islands 
are traversed with lofty mountains, which temper the 
heat of the tropical sun, and give rise to numerous 
streams which fertilize the soil, making this one of 
the most favored regions on the globe. The degree 
of heat is inversely as the degree of elevation*, but 
every species of plants cannot take advantage of this 
compensation. Potatoes grow at an elevation of nine 
thousand feet higher than in England ; and the larch 
clothes the sides of the mountains of Scotland with a 
delicate foliage. The shores of Titicaca, a lake in 
Peru, are above the limit of trees. They are en- 
closed with a thick forest of beautiful rushes, which 
supply the native with fuel, covering for huts, mate- 
rials for boats, and canvas for sails. 

Temperature so depends on solar exposure, that an 
elevated valley in Switzerland has a spot of perpetual 
verdure in the midst of perpetual snows and glaciers. 
Plains on the Himmalaya mountains, at an elevation 
of fifteen thousand feet, produce fine pasturage ; and 
at an elevation above the region of perpetual snows 
on the Andes, in the same latitude, buckwheat and 
barley flourish. The French obtained soda by plant- 
ing the kelpwort on the northern side of the hill, 
sloping towards the sea. The olive grows in no high- 
er latitude than the southern provinces of France, and 
then under the most favorable circumstances of soil 
and aspect. It is much warmer at Nantz, in France, 
than at Quebec, in Canada, both being very nearly Id 
the same latitude. 



E R G N M Y. 245 

On lofty mountains the heat is reflected into a dry 
atmosphere, and carried off by winds without any 
opportunity to accumulate. Countries which abound 
in rivers, lakes, and marshes, are less subject to the 
extremes of temperature than those which are dry. 
The deserts of Arabia and Africa, are like immense 
furnaces, increasing the heat on the Mediterranean in 
Europe and Asia. Siberia and Russian America, be- 
ing unprotected by mountains, have their cold increas- 
ed by polar winds. 

Some plants vary much in their power of resisting 
the vicissitudes of temperature. Firs are natives of 
perpetual snows, and of the Indian archipelago. The 
pine, larch, cedar, spruce, and juniper, are gigantic in 
size, rapid in growth, noble in aspect, and robust in 
constitution. Some of these trees form a proportion 
of every wood or plantation, and of every forest in a 
natural state. 

Switzerland is hotter in summer and colder in win- 
ter than England. The more equable temperature of 
England enables the laurel to support winter with 
impunity, while Switzerland ill accords with its na- 
ture ; but, on the contrary, grapes can but imperfectly 
ripen in England, while in Switzerland they afford a 
luxuriant vintage. Clover is cultivated on the Rhine 
for seed for England, the climate of which does not 
permit its seed to ripen. Anise grows wild in Egypt, 
Syria, and other countries. The short summers of 
England, as appears from numerous trials, will not 
bring the seeds to perfection ; and the seeds, so much 
used as aromatics and medicines, must be imported 
from Malta or Spain for planting. 



246 ERGONOMY. 

Vegetation, having more light, is of a deeper green 
on mountains than in valleys, in Italy than in Eng- 
land. Light causes inflexibility, so that mountainous 
plants are more diminutive than those in the plain. 
The Alpine plants seem rigid and stunted ; the Afri- 
can, gloomy and sullen ; the Asiatic, majestic and 
lofty ; the American, sweet and smiling. The want 
of light in England, injures the beauty and vigor of 
vegetation ; while its damp climate gives it its fine 
grass, its elegant meadows and lawns. Ireland, with 
a climate more mild than England, is, from the bril- 
liant verdure of its vegetation, called the '■' Emerald 
Isle." Florida is noted for the brilliant coloring of 
its flowering shrubs, for its tall and majestic pines, 
cedars, chestnuts, and magnolias. 

Rain is very unequally distributed over the globe, 
being generally much greater at the equator than 
toward the poles. In the torrid zone the rains occur 
at certain seasons ; and in some places in Peru, the 
place of rain is supplied by copious dews. The palm, 
a succulent plant, grows from sands in which no moist- 
ure is observable ; and many of the succulent plants 
embellishing Southern Africa, are destroyed by the 
rainy season. Rice flourishes entirely covered with 
water, or with its roots alone shooting into a moist 
soil. It grows so abundantly in the rivers and bays 
of Wisconsin that the Indians gather it into their 
canoes. The moisture of the English climate admits 
abundant crops of turnips, peas, and beans, plants 
which enter into rotation with great advantaire. The 
water of large rivers, being more impregnated with 
air, is more favorable to vesjetation than that of small 



ERGONOMY. 247 

rivulets. The silicious soil of Ireland is suitable for 
corn; while a similar soil of France, as the climate 
requires more water than the soil can retain, is un- 
suitable for such cultivation. 

Some plants flourish on silicious, some on alumin- 
ous, some on calcareous soils. As silicious soils are 
early in maturing plants, they are suitable for grains, 
roots, and herbage, such as barley, turnips, and peren- 
nial pastures. Aluminous soils surpass the silicious 
in wheat ; and the plum tree " only bears its finest 
and most abundant crops in heavy loams, or in soils 
in which there is a considerable mixture of clay." 
Lime imparts vigor to sainfoin, the roots of which 
penetrate far into the interstices of chalk, and grow 
luxuriantly upon a light soil. I 

Variations of altitude, temperature, humidity, soils, 
proximity to the sea, particular winds, contribute to 
affect peculiar botanic habits. Adaptations arise 
from the minutest circumstances, and particular dis- 
tricts are supplied with particular plants. Botanists 
have divided the globe into twenty botanic regions. 
The plants which grow naturally in St. Helena and 
the Sandwich Islands are almost all different from 
those upon the continents. In India the greater part 
of trees is the family of the palms ; and in the south- 
ern parts of Europe, a few straggling palms indicate 
an approach to a more vigorous region. " Palms 
chiefly acknowledge, as their native home, those hap- 
py regions seated within the tropics." Some few 
species " love the humid banks of the ocean, others 
ascend into Alpine regions ; some collect into dense 
forests, others spring up singly, or in clusters over 



248 E R G N M Y. 

the plains." " No species of palm has been found in 
South Africa," nor " on the west coast of New Hol- 
land, even within the tropics." 

Barbary, from its warmth and moisture, is covered 
with verdure and adorned with flowers. The olive 
flourishes, the vine stretches itself in beautiful wind- 
ings, and the Indian fig-tree forms impenetrable 
hedges for gardens and vineyards. Its pomegran- 
ates are three times larger than those of Italy ; and 
oranges, melons, cucumbers, cabbages, and lettuces, 
abound in the richest profusion. The artichoke which 
grows wild in the woods, and the acorn which tastes 
like the chestnut, are food for the natives. The 
cypress, the cedar, the almond, the mulberry, flour- 
ish with beautiful foliaoje. The hills are covered 
with thyme and rosemary, which purify the air as 
well as furnish fuel for the inhabitants. The lotus 
and the palm are useful plants ; and the white rose, 
which is seen in every direction, yields the purest 
essence. 

The eastern regions of Asia possess the noblest 
plants ; the western, unite richness with symmetry. 
Asia contains the enchanting Cashmere, the garden 
of Damascus, and the forest of Lebanon. Botanists 
have found two thousand new plants in Australia, 
and the richest esculent fruits grow luxuriantly in 
the smaller islands. The sago, areca, and cocoa trees, 
grow one hundred and eighty feet in height, thirty 
feet in circumference. The guava, rotang, and bana- 
na, afford grateful food for man, and elegant wood for 
furniture. The paper mulberry is manufactured into 



E R G N O M Y. 249 

cloth ; and bread-fruit, like melons, hangs from the 
boughs of trees in Otaheite and other islands. 

The seringeira, a common forest tree of the Ama- 
zonian valley, yields the India-rubber, so useful in 
domestic economy. Anotta, so extensively used as a 
dye, is derived from the seed of another Amazonian 
tree. Extensive plantations of the cocoa tree form a 
feature in the agriculture of the country. The mandi- 
oc, sometimes called the cassava, is indigenous to Bra- 
zil, and constitutes the bread of the people. The root, 
after expelling its virulent poison, is made into tapioca 
for commerce. Of the fruit of a palm, native to Brazil, 
is prepared " a cream-like substance" which " becomes 
more prized than all fruits besides." The mangaba, 
or alligator pear, has in the centre a stem about which 
is a substance " soft and marrow-like ;" and the biraba, 
or custard apple, " contains a white pulp which is eaten 
with a spoon." From the forests of Brazil are obtain- 
ed drugs of wondrous virtue; many precious gums 
exude from its trees ; and elegant wood for various 
uses abound in the richest profusion. 

The olive, the vine, and the maize, flourish in the 
most perfect manner in Tuscany ; and oranges and 
peaches are poured from the horn of plenty with 
uncommon prodigality. The soil is not very favor- 
able to vegetation ; but, with an' ardent sun and 
good cultivation, the same results are obtained as 
in Belgium with a superior soil. The light soils 
of Belgium and Alsace, are suitable to alternate 
and simultaneous crops, a cultivation too expensive 
for aluminous textures. De Soto found the granaries 
of the natives of Florida " well stored with Indian 

11* 



250 E R G N M Y. 

corn and certain leguminous seeds." In the vale of 
Glastonbury wheat grows many years on the same 
spot without any manure ; and in a particular loca- 
tion in Scotland, wheat has been raised thirty years 
successively, without injury to the soil or crop. The 
red lands of Morocco yield wheat most abundantly ; 
and in the vicinity of Barcelona, lucern has yielded 
as high as forty tons to the acre. 

Within the northern polar circle, agriculture is 
found only in a few places. The polar limit of agri- 
culture is hisrher in Russian America than in Siberia. 

O 

In Lapland the limit is seventy degrees. Barley and 
oats constitute the vegetable nourishment in Norway, 
Sweden, Siberia, and Scotland. Barley is raised even 
to the edge of the glaciers ; the potato, as far north 
as Archangel. Rye is the prevailing grain on the 
Baltic for food ; barley, for beer ; and oats, for horses. 
Wheat almost exclusively furnishes bread in the south 
of France and Scotland, in England, Germany, Hun- 
gary, Caucasus, and the Crimea. Rice abounds in 
Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, 
Nubia, Barbary, and the Canary Islands. 

A tree with soft, silver-colored leaves resembling 
satin, and a tree with gold-colored leaves edged with 
scarlet, are natives solely of the Cape of Good Hope. 
The Isle of Thaifet owes its reputation to sea-weed 
which is used as manure ; and crude soda, so useful in 
the arts, is obtained from sea-weed which abounds on 
the western shores of Scotland. The Chinese use one 
species of sea-weed in the manufacture of lanterns, and 
in giving a gloss to silks or gauzes. The cinchona 
grows abundantly in Peru ; and a mountain in Africa 



E R G N M Y. 251 

is covered with aloes. The tallow tree for making 
candles, grows plentifully in China ; and a tree in the 
interior of Africa, according to Park, yields firmer and 
richer butter than that obtained from cows. The 
fountain tree on Hierro, one of the Canaries, affords 
drink to the natives. The balsam tree grows on rocks 
and the trunks of other trees, in the hot parts of 
America and the Bahamas. Pimento trees, which are 
very difficult to cultivate, grow spontaneously and 
abundantly in Jamaica. 

Pepper is found in large quantities in Sumatra ; and 
indigo and opium are largely raised in India for expor- 
tation. Camphor is obtained from a tree which grows 
very commonly in woods and hedges in Ceylon. Its 
respective parts yield the common cinnamon, the oil 
of cloves, the oil of camphor, and candles for royal use. 
The liquorice of commerce is obtained from a plant, a 
native of Italy and France ; the gum-arabic, from the 
acacia of the Nile. Archil is obtained from a peculiar 
lichen growing chiefly in the Canaries ; rouge, from 
the safflower which is cultivated in Egypt, Spain, and 
the Levant. Manna and senna, procured from the 
same tree, come from the coppice woods of Italy ; and 
the daphne, the bark of which makes delicate lace, is a 
native of the West Indies. The cork tree grows in 
Spain, France, and Barbary. Jalap comes from Jala- 
pa ; cayenne pepper, from Guiana ; mahogany and log- 
wood, from Honduras. Catechu is prepared from a 
plant growing in Bahar, and comes to us principally 
from Bengal and Bombay. Gum copal comes from 
Guinea, and lac is found in great quantities on the 
uncultivated mountains on both sides of the Ganges. 



252 ERaONOMY. 

Asafoetida, a medicine and seasoning for food, grows 
on the mountains which surround Desguum, a small 
town in Persia. The whole gathering is performed by 
the natives, the whole atmosphere is surcharged with 
the pungent perfume, and a single ship is exclusively 
devoted to the use of carrying the commodity to the 
ports on the Persian gulf. Banca, a small island des- 
titute of most plants, could supply the world with 
nutmegs — the annual sale having amounted to three 
hundred and fifty thousand pounds of nutmegs, with a 
hundred thousand pounds of mace. Amboyna, one of 
the largest of the Moluccas, is the centre of commerce 
in nutmegs and cloves. It has a beautiful aspect with 
a salubrious climate, and possesses four hundred spe- 
cies of wood suitable for inlaying. The tea-plant, 
which is found native only in China and Japan, sup- 
plies the world with a refreshing beverage. Ten mil- 
lion pounds of the best coffee are annually exported 
from Mocha, and seventy million pounds are annually 
supplied by Hayti. 

Hemp and flax are imported from Russia, the middle 
regions of which abound in apples, some of which are 
remarkable for size and flavor. New Jersey abounds 
in fine apples, and Newark cider is proverbial for its 
peculiar excellence. The olive trees about Nice afford 
oil perfectly white and limpid, free from smell and 
taste, and highly esteemed in northern countries. The 
tobacco of Cuba, from which Spanish cigars are manu- 
factured, is esteemed the best in America. Of arrow- 
root, which is cultivated in the East and West Indies, 
the purest comes from Jamaica and Bermuda. A few 
states of the American Union make cotton for a great 



ERGONOMY. 253 

part of the world, the interior yielding a variety for 
ordinary clothing, the coast a variety of a silky texture 
for the finest fabrics. A district of Virginia is adapted 
to tobacco ; of Georgia, to rice ; of Louisiana, to sugar ; 
of Kentucky, to hemp ; of Delaware, to wheat ; of 
New Jersey, to corn ; of New York, to barley ; of 
North Carolina, to " tar, pitch, and turpentine." 

The torrid zone abounds in large animals. The 
mighty elephant dwells in the depths of the ancient 
forests, while the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus 
roll their enormous bodies along the banks of the 
streams. The ostrich, cassowary, and condor, are the 
largest birds, and the smaller ones, which abound in 
the forests, have brilliant and beautiful plumage. The 
horse, ox, sheep, goat, hog, cat, dog, and other useful 
domestic animals, are found in great perfection in the 
temperate zones. In the frigid zone, the great bear 
roams over the fields of ice ; the sea-horse rises amid 
the icebergs ; and the mighty whale rolls through the 
sea, mingling his frightful roarings with the sound of 
the tempest. 

The most magnificent animals are seen in Africa, 
which contains five times as many species as all Amer- 
ica. Africa is distinguished for its gigantic ostrich, 
ape, antelope, hippopotamus, and girafi'e. It furnishes 
hides, ivory, tiger skins, and ostrich feathers. The 
elephants of India are tamed, and made useful like 
horses in Europe. The camel abounds where deserts 
are extensive, and does not flourish in the mild climate 
of the temperate zone. The fox and wolf, inhabiting 
every zone, suffer only a variation in the beauty of 
their covering. The salubrious valleys of Afghanistan 



254 E R G N M Y. 

abound in horses and dromedaries ; and camels, sheep, 
and wild boars, are abundant in Barbary. 

" Nature," says Laborde " has destined " the bou- 
quetin " to mountains covered with snow ; if it is not 
exposed to keen cold, it becomes blind. Its agility in 
leaping, much surpasses that of the chamois, and would 
appear incredible to those who have not seen it. There 
is not a mountain so high or steep to which it will not 
trust itself, provided it has room to place its feet ; it 
can scramble along the highest wall, if its surface be 
rugged," The mule, in descending the Alps, stops at 
a descent, and prepares for the encounter. It places 
its fore feet in a proper posture, puts its hind feet 
together, surveys the road, and slides down along the 
winding path. 

As sheep delight in pure air and dry pasture, they 
are well fitted for rocky situations, and hilly districts 
are becoming profitable sheep grounds. Dry proven- 
der is salutary food, and their fleecy covering and 
gregarious habits are accommodated to extreme cold. 
Saxony is noted for fine sheep ; and Spain makes the 
rearing of Merino sheep a great business. In some 
locations in Massachusetts, the soil, as well as the 
farmer, is enriched by rearing sheep. A part of 
Australia, which has a soil unfit for cultivation, is 
so well adapted to pasturage that nine million pounds 
of wool were exported in a single season. The alpaca 
sheep, which is indigenous to the mountains of Peru, 
has a hardihood of constitution and a peculiarity of 
structure adapted to its native regon. It flourishes 
while feeding below the snowy mantle which contin- 
ually envelops the summitSj and occasionally clothes 



ERGO NO MY. 265 

the sides of the Andes. It ascends the rugged moun- 
tain with safety ; sometimes climbing the slippery crag 
for food, sometimes seeking it on the heath, or in rocky 
dells sheltered from wintry storms. It enjoys its 
coarse pastures, its extensive ranges, its pure air, 
and its appropriate bathing-places. Two million 
pounds of alpaca wool are annually imported into 
Britain. 

That portion of Western New York which is not 
adapted to wheat, is so admirably suited to grazing as 
to send horses and cattle to market. Steuben county 
is almost wholly devoted to butter making, and Her- 
kimer makes one thousand three hundred tons of 
cheese in a single season. One house, in one year, 
shipped from Cincinnati two hundred and three thou- 
sand pounds of butter. The products of the Dutch 
dairies are in such high repute, that vast quantities 
of butter and cheese are annually exported to Britain 
and the West Indies. Alkmaar, in North Holland, is 
so great a market for cheese that eight hundred farm- 
ers with cheeses resort to it in a single day. 

The horse is modified to suit his physical circum- 
stances. The scanty herbage of the mountains tends 
to hardy diminutiveness ; the rich pastures of the 
plains, to uncommon largeness. The pony of Nor- 
way or Scotland contrasts with the huge horse of 
Holstein or Lincolnshire. In Africa the horse dis- 
plays that light, agile shape which fits him for his 
peculiar condition. The heavy horse of Germany 
and England, could no more subsist on the dry 
herbage of Africa and Arabia than on the scanty 
heath of Norway and Scotland. 



256 ERGONOMY. 

Some races of hogs can scarcely be made to fatten ; 
others raise a valuable carcass out of materials on 
"which no other creature can subsist. The flesh of 
the Chinese hog, a variety diffused through China, 
Guinea, and the South Sea islands, is white and 
delicate. The New Hebrides, Marquesas, Friendly, 
and Society islands, possess this variety ; and as it 
is almost their only domestic animal, they cultivate it 
with the greatest care. 

The hair of goats turns into a silky texture by a 
residence at Angora. The Guinea deer, the hair of 
which is as bright as polished gold, can exist only in 
tropical climates, and abounds in Java and Ceylon. 
The musk animals of Thibet inhabit the Alpine 
mountains of Asia, frequenting woody and inaccessi- 
ble places. The elk, the marten, the sable, the bea- 
ver, the ermine, have caused the polar regions to 
become the country of an extensive fur trade. 

The extensive prairies of North America afford 
rich pastures for immense herds of buffaloes, elks, 
deer, and horses. The whole plain sometimes appears 
black with buffaloes ; ten thousand are sometimes sup- 
posed to be in a single herd. The pampas of the 
United Provinces are supposed to contain twelve mil- 
lion horned cattle and three million horses, besides 
sheep in great abundance. The wealth of the inhab- 
itants consists in vast herds of cattle, horses, and 
mules. Brazil, Buenos Ayres, and Russia, furnish 
tallow, hides, and leather. The Lapps use the rein- 
deer for drawing sledges, and barter the oil and sinews 
with happier climes. The oil of the seal, with some 



ERGONOMY. 257 

other parts, the Greenlander exchanges for other com- 
modities. 

Swarms of herring, cod, and other fish, come yearly 
from the icy seas to the Baltic, and to the shores of 
Britain and Newfoundland. Several hundred ship 
loads are sent every year from Bergen to foreign 
parts, besides those consumed at home in daily pro- 
visions. Mackerel come in shoals to the coasts of 
England ; and herring move from the icy regions 
to Norway, the Baltic, Zuyderzee, Friesland, Holland, 
Flanders, France, Scotland, and Ireland. The people 
of Brittany purchase the ofial of a large fish caught 
on the coast of Norway, and this brings such shoals 
of pilchards as to supply all the maritime places in 
the vicinity. 

New Brunswick is distinguished for its salmon and 
herring fisheries. Two thousand barrels of salmon 
are annually exported from Aberdeen, in Scotland. 
The principal whale fishery is the seas contiguous to 
the Falkland Islands, in the Pacific ocean. The cod 
fisheries of Newfoundland, the richest in the world, 
give employment to thousands and food to millions. 
Ajaccio, in Corsica, is famous for its coral and anchovy 
fisheries. Marine turtles abound on the shores of the 
West Indies, and are caught as they go on the land 
at night. The turtles of the Upper Amazon, deposit 
their eggs on land, and the people collect to share the 
pillage. They gather them in boat loads, beat them 
up in huge vessels, and obtain turtle oil which is 
much used in Amazonian cookery. Six thousand pots 
of oil, each requiring twelve thousand eggs, are annu- 
ally sent from the most noted localities. Seventy-two 



258 ERGONOMY. 

million eggs, requiring four hundred and eighty thou- 
sand turtles to produce, are annually destroyed — only a 
small proportion of the whole number. 

The ship-worm of India clears away timbers which 
block up the mariner. The murex which inhabits the 
South seas, is used as a musical and military horn by 
the New Zealanders and Africans. The murex which 
produces a charming purple, is common on the Tyrian 
shore, and abundant in the seas near Panama and 
Nicoya. Cloth dyed at Segovia is sold at twenty 
crowns an ell, and worn by the greatest noblemen in 
Spain. Cochineal, an insect extensively cultivated in 
Oaxaca, is sent to minister to the elegances of life, 
and to enliven with gay colors the saloons of London, 
Paris, and Vienna. 

The woolen manufacture of England employs five 
hundred thousand hands ; and Silesia, in Prussia, elab- 
orates some of the finest cloths made on the continent. 
The cotton manufactured in England and Wales, em- 
ploys four hundred and twenty-seven thousand opera- 
tives. Deccan is noted for the finest muslins in the 
world ; and Lowell employs in its cotton and woolen 
manufactories seven thousand females. Twenty thou- 
sand pieces of beautiful and durable linen, are annually 
manufactured by the peasantry in the vicinity of Ye- 
rona. Linen of the finest quality is manufactured in 
Ireland, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and the Nether- 
lands. Bohemia alone employs three hundred thou- 
sand operatives, and Silesia has whole towns and vil- 
lages occupied by weavers. Russia has three hundred 
linen manufactories. The finest fabrics from hemp are 
manufactured in France, Germany, and Great Britain, 



E R G O N xVI Y. 269 

in which countries the most perfect kind of machinery 
has been in operation for years, elaborating from the 
coarsest baoroino; to the finest cambric. 

Saxony stands at the head of the German states in 
agriculture, manufactures, and literature. Birming- 
ham is styled " the toy shop" of Europe, and Brussels 
is noted for its lace and carpets. Sheffield is noted 
for cutlery ; Leeds, for woolens ; Coventry, for rib- 
bons ; Nottingham, for stockings ; Worcester, for porce- 
lain ; Swansea, for copper works ; Glasgow, for fine 
cottons ; Paisly, for intelligent weavers ; and Dun- 
dee, for sail-cloth and coarse linens. Baden is distin- 
guished for pipes ; Staffordshire, for extensive potter- 
ies ; and Friburg, for being surrounded with two 
hundred mines. Cremona is noted for violins ; Brescia, 
for fire-arms ; Meissen, for fine porcelain ; Rochester, 
for flour-mills ; Salina, for salt works ; Newark, for 
carriages ; Lynn, for women's shoes ; Bristol, for 
clocks ; Waterbury, for buttons ; Collinsville, for 
axes ; and Pittsburg for glass and white-lead. 

The fruitful valleys of Piedmont are embosomed in 
lofty mountains, intersected with deep and rapid rivers. 
Fertile plains contrast with frightful precipices ; beau- 
tiful verdure, with everlasting snow. The mountains 
abound with gold, silver, copper, and iron ; the rivers, 
with exquisite fish ; the forests, with game ; the pas- 
tures, with cattle ; the fields, with corn, rice, fruits, and 
hemp. The chestnuts which are so plentiful in the 
forests, are used in France as confectionery. Some 
locations among the Pyrenees are destitute of ver- 
dure ; others are crowned with forests of huge oaks, 
beeches, and evergreens. Extensive valleys are ani- 



260 ERGONOMY. 

mated with deer and fowl, perfumed with aromatic 
herbs, adorned with aloes and pomegranates, and 
enriched with olives, lemons, oranges, apples, corn, 
and flax. Flocks of sheep and goats enliven the hills, 
and cultivated vegetation hangs on the slopes. Agri- 
culturists and artificers, operating on native facilities, 
live in peace and plenty. 

II. Discovery, invention, and execution, the three 
grand divisions of human industry, disperse into 
minute specifications. To complete a single com- 
modity, is to concentrate the whole circle of intelli- 
gence, to mingle science with artistic inventions, to 
intertwine dexterity with the arts and sciences. 
Science, the result of discovery, is distributed among 
various philosophers, each of whom, after collecting 
information from every available source, devotes him- 
self to a specific department. The inventors, the 
second division, apply science to industrial pursuits ; 
and many sciences, which at first seem to be only 
speculative curiosities, possess a vast utility. The 
operatives, the third division, branch out into extreme 
minuteness in actual elaborations. 

In pure mathematics, the investigation of fluxionary 
quantities is confined to the algebraist ; the compar- 
ison of magnitudes, to geometers ; and the combina- 
tion of numbers, to the arithmetician. Natural phi- 
losophy, which investigates bodies in masses, is now 
separated from chemistry, which determines their 
internal constitutions. Of natural philosophers, one 
devotes himself to mechanics ; another, to geography ; 
another, to astronomy. The elements of machinery 
are brought to the highest simplicity by those who 



ERGONOMY. 261 

have made meclianics a particular study. Modern 
chemistry, according to the three kingdoms of nature, 
investigates mineral affinities, vegetable energies, and 
animal economies. Geology, which investigates the 
laws of stratification, includes metallurgy ; and many 
professors confine their investigations to specific met- 
als. 

Mathematical philosophers smooth the path for the 
observers of nature ; and the literati furnish a medium 
for conducting such elaborative reasonings. The econ- 
omist investigates the laws of property, reasons with 
demonstrative rigor, and estimates commodities with 
the strictest arithmetic. The financier, in his partic- 
ular department, uses philosophic and mathematical 
principles. Commerce is conducted, merchandise com- 
puted, and pecuniary standing determined, by numbers. 
Arithmetic is used " in computing the wealth of na- 
tions, the value of their revenues, and the amount of 
their population ; and in the afiairs of government, for 
apportioning taxes, arranging schemes of finance, and 
regulating national expenses." Except in particular 
cases, civil jurisprudence does not award the particu- 
lar property in dispute, but a sum of money as a 
numerary equivalent. Criminal ofi'ences are often 
measured by pecuniary penalties, and sometimes the 
line between death and the mildest punishment, de- 
pends upon a farthing in estimating the stolen proper- 
ty. The moralist exhibits the Divine legislation for 
regulating human conduct, and fortifies human frailty 
by presenting prospective rewards and punishments. 
Numerary equivalents run through moral science, and 
will bear upon eternal retributions. 



262 E R G N M Y. 

The sciences, Avith their attendant arts, have ad- 
vanced from small beginnings. Shepherds, observing 
the regularity of the heavenly motions, pursued their 
journeys across desert plains, and originated the phy- 
sical sciences. A succession of gifted minds brought 
the first rays into practical forms, and expanded the 
scanty information into the full splendor of intellective 
reason. Those born in the infancy of civilization, de- 
pended upon simple observation, and bequeathed their 
labors to posterity. Ages are spent in collecting 
materials, and ages more in separating and combin- 
ing them. Each generation enjoys a vast hoard from 
antiquity, and transmits it augmented by fresh acqui- 
sitions to posterity. 

The Greeks seem to have derived the elements of 
geometry from the Phoenicians, and studied the science 
for mental improvement. They connected it with sta- 
tics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, and architecture. The 
school of Alexandria was rendered illustrious by the 
reputation of Euclid ; and Archimedes, of Syracuse, 
enriched science with discoveries upon which modern 
admeasurements are founded, being the only one of 
the ancients who left satisfactory solutions in mechan- 
ics and hydrostatics. He discovered the relation be- 
tween the cylinder and the sphere, and contrived 
engines to defend Syracuse against the Romans. 
Apollonius of Pamphylia wrote on Conic Sections, 
and Pappus of Alexandria wrote . the Mathematical 
Collections. Diophantus of Alexandria furnished lu- 
minous methods for resolving various problems. 

" Whatever may be the origin of the name, the 
science of algebra is ascribed to the Grecian Die- 



ERGONOMY. 263 

phantus by the modest testimony of the Arabs them- 
selves." It was cultivated by the Arabs, Italians, 
English, French, and Germans. Tartaglia of Brescia, 
Gardanus of Mila.n, and Ferrari of Bologna, are highly 
distinguished among Italian algebraists. It has been 
enriched by Stifel, Recorde, Peletarius, Vieta, Harriot, 
Girard, Descartes, Fermat, Newton, Leibnitz, Maclau- 
rin, Euler, Lambert, D'Alembert, Lagrange, Saunder- 
son, Clairaut, Cousin, Templehof, Kastner, Bezout, and 
Yega. Arithmetic, after attaining a high degree of 
perfection among the Greeks, passed to the Romans. 
The system of notation used by the moderns, deserves 
to be called one of the sublimest inventions of the 
human mind. The French, who excel in treatises 
on mathematics, have elaborated splendid works on 
arithmetic. 

The vast number of facts and experiments which 
Boyle recorded, led the way to brilliant results in 
the study of nature. The pressure of the atmosphere 
was noticed by Galileo, and demonstrated by Torri- 
celli. Every species of musical instruments found 
in Greek works, is also found in the Etruscan. The 
Roman system of music is entirely Grecian ; and the 
laws of contrast, of light and shade, of loud and soft, 
of swelling and diminishing, seem to have been under- 
stood by the Romans. The most celebrated writers 
on music, Augustin, Macrobius, Martianus, Capel- 
la, Cassiodorus, and Boethius, were little more than 
copyists of their Grecian predecessors. Pythagoras 
knew the relation between the length of strings and 
their sounds ; Aristotle, the relation between pipes 
and their sounds. Galileo taught that the acuteness 



264 ERGONOMY. 

of sounds depends on the fi^equency of the vibrations ; 
Newton gave the law of transmission, and Laplace de- 
termined the correction for heat. 

Astronomy was cultivated by Thales, who is said to 
have calculated an eclipse. Pythagoras hinted the 
true system ; and Meton introduced the lunar cycle. 
Timocharis and Aristyllus made useful observations ; 
and Aristarchus of Samos taught the double motion 
of the earth. Hipparchus determined the length of 
the solar year, the eccentricity of the orbit, and the 
precession of the equinoxes. Copernicus restored the 
true system ; and Kepler, who established the exist- 
ence of three important laws, gave the science a math- 
ematical form. Bouilloud said •' that the force with 
which the sun acts upon the planets, varies inversely 
as the square of the distances from the sun." Newton 
demonstrated the law of universal gravitation ; and 
Bradley discovered the aberration of light. Astron- 
omy has advanced from the rude observations of the 
Chaldean shepherds to the universal gravitation of 
Newton ; from the rough calculations of the Phoeni- 
cian mariners to the Celestial Mechanics of Laplace. 

The earlier Greeks were so ignorant of geography, 
that the wildest fictions of the Odyssey are located 
within a few hours' sail of their own country. The 
description of the Argonautic expedition considers the 
earth as a great plain surrounded by a flowing ocean, 
the sea of Azof as connected with the ocean. The 
Athenians, correcting some of these errors, described 
these seas and coasts nearly as perfectly as modern 
geographers. The expeditions of Clearchus and Alex- 
ander into Asia, gave the Greeks an acquaintance with 



ERGONOMY. 265 

distant oriental regions. The west of Europe was 
visited and described by the Phoenicians, who had 
penetrated to the British Islands. The northern parts 
of Europe and Asia were known in name to the Grreeks 
and Romans, in the second century. India limited 
their progress eastward ; the deserts of Africa, south- 
w^ard ; and the Atlantic ocean, westward. Within 
these narrow boundaries, several nations were known 
only by name to the ancient geographers, who believed 
the torrid and frigid zones to be alike destructive to 
animal life, 

Hanno, a Carthaginian, made a celebrated voyage 
called the Periplus ; and Eratosthenes of Cyrene, a 
distinguished mathematician, was the founder of scien- 
tific geography. Strabo of Pontus, in the time of 
Tiberius, traveled through Greece, Egypt, Asia, Italy, 
and wrote a great work on geography. Dionysius of 
Charax, a contemporary of Strabo, was sent by Au- 
gustus into the east to prepare a description of those 
regions. Claudius Ptolemy of Pelusium acquired 
great distinction in geography and astronomy ; and 
Pausanias of Cappadocia, in the second century, 
traveled over Greece, Macedonia, Italy, and many 
countries in Asia. Distant regions became familiar 
to the Crusaders ; and missionaries penetrated into 
still remoter countries. Marco Polo, a nobleman of 
Venice, was a distinguished traveler ; and John Man- 
deville, of England, after an absence of thirty years, 
returned to publish his observations. 

Before the discovery of America, the science of 
astronomy and geography was cherished by Alphonso, 
Roger Bacon, Purbach, and many distinguished phi- 

12 



266 ERGONOMY. 

losophers. Muller invented an armillary astrolabe^ 
and several other instruments useful in navigation. 
The use of the compass, which constitutes an era in 
maritime adventures, opened the gates of the Pillars 
of Hercules, and ushered the mariner into the broad 
Atlantic. No longer bound to capes and headlands, 
no longer creeping timidly along the shores, he is 
released from fear and inspired with confidence. 
When every beacon has vanished, this faithful guide 
points out the proper passage, communicates infor- 
mation in the thickest darkness, and remains steady in 
tempestuous agitations. After this discovery, the 
Portuguese discovered the Azores, nine hundred miles 
from any continent, and found beyond the equinoctial 
line a habitable, fertile, and populous region. They 
hoped to arrive at the East Indies by the circum- 
navigation of Africa ; and Diaz, advancing a thousand 
miles further than any of his predecessors, beheld the 
lofty promontory which terminates Africa on the south. 
The violence of the winds, the condition of the ships, 
and the turbulence of the men, compelled him to re- 
turn. Columbus discovered a new continent ; Yasco 
de Gama passed the Cape of Good Hope ; and several 
navigators sailed round the globe. 

Some traditionary knowledge of chemistry was 
secreted in the temples and monasteries of Egypt, 
and much experience acquired by arts and manufac- 
tures. The Saracens first named the alembic for the 
purposes of distillation, analyzed the substances of 
acids, and converted the poisonous minerals into soft 
and salutary medicines. The discoveries of Priestley, 
Scheele, Black, Lavoisier, Davy, and Cavendish, fix 



E R G N M Y. 267 

the science on an independent basis. That the com- 
position of bodies is fixed and invariable, was discover- 
ed by Wenzel of Sweden, and his observations were 
afterwards confirmed witliout much generalization by 
Bergman and llichter. Iliggins speaks of ultimate 
particles ; and Dalton, from the scattered facts, gave 
the law of composition a full generalization, and added 
the law of multiples as peculiar to his own discovery. 
Wolkiston and Thompson followed in the true path of 
discovery ; and Berzelius, in his investigation of the 
laws of definite proportions, enriched the science by 
his skill and indefatigable industry. The composition 
of a substance is determinable by calculation ; and the 
science is indebted to Lavoisier, Berthollet, Morveau, 
and Fourcroy, for its elegant nomenclature. 

Rumford found that in proportion as fibrous sub- 
stances retained heat, they furnished warmer clothing. 
Leslie discovered that surfaces had an effect upon 
radiation ; and Stark performed experiments illus- 
trative of the connection between radiation and color. 
That heat has the same laws of refraction as light, 
was noticed by Lambert, and decisively established 
by Saussure and Pictet. Leslie discovered that sur- 
faces adverse to radiation were suitable for reflection, 
that surfaces suitable for reflection were adverse to 
absorption. The researches of Leslie were confirmed 
by the decisive experiments of Bitchie. That radia- 
tion was inversely as the conducting power, was traced 
out by Nobili and Melloni. Radiation afforded to 
Wills the elegant solution of the phenomenon of dew ; 
and Newton's law of refrigeration, was used with suc- 
cess by Dulong and Pictet. 



208 1^' R a N O M Y. 

The Philosopliical Transactions contain dissertations 
on expansion by Ellicot, Smcaton, Troughton, and Hoy. 
Biot hiis f»;iveii the results of ox))criincnts pcrrorined 
with <^reat care by Lavoisier and Li>i)hicc. That water 
dihitcH before it freezes, was first noticed by Croune ; 
and the eh;<j;:int experiments of Hope and Jlallstrom 
determined iho degree which gave its maximum den- 
sity. The hiw of dilatation in gases was detected by 
Dal ton and (;lay liussac nearly at the same time. The 
determination of speciiic heat was maiU; by the elabo- 
rate investigation of Crawford ; ;uid aft(5rwards by 
Lavoisier and Laplace, Delaroach and Berard. The 
specific lieat of the gases was experimented on by 
Clement and Desormes, and further tried by De la 
Hive and Marcet. Uhick discovered the loss of heat 
during liquefaction ; nnd experiments on the tension 
of steam, were made by Robinson and Southern. Arago 
and Dulong. 

On oi)tics society has the discoveries and observa- 
tions of Newton, Descartes, HuygenH, l^iuler, Iler- 
schell, nnd Airy. Snell discovered the {)hino of the in- 
cident nnd refracted nxy, and the relation of the sines 
of the angles of incidence and refraction in the same 
medium. llooke and Kranklin found thnt textures 
absorbed the rays of IIk^ sun nearly in proportion to 
their depth of shade. Ilersehell found the calorific 
rays beyond the spectrum on the red side, and Ijubeck 
found the nuiximum point to vary with the kind of 
prism employ (mI in the experiment. Kittcr and Wal- 
laston determined the place of the chemical rays to lie 
at the outer verge of the violet. The light emitted by 
lime intensely heated was proposed by Drummond for 



E II a O N M Y. 269 

trigonometrical surveys ; and it has since been success- 
fully applied by Cooper and Carey to gas microscopes, 
■which give the )-)rismatic colors in great brightness. 

The ancients knew the ellect resulting from the fric- 
tion of amber ; and Gilbert discovered the same pro- 
perties in other substances, and laid the foundation of 
the science of electricity. Additional facts were added 
by Boyle, Guericke, and Wall ; Hawkesbee published 
many curious experiments ; and Gray, who made many 
striking experiments, drew the distinction between 
conductors and non-conductors. The mode of accumu- 
lating electricity was discovered ; and Franklin proved 
the identity of electricity and lightning. Considera- 
tions overlooked by Franklin, were introduced by 
Tl^jpinuH and Cavendish in their elaborate expositions. 
Experiments on insulation were made by Dufay, Sym- 
ner, Franklin, and Cavendish ; and the effect of tem- 
perature was shown by Gumming, Prideaux, and Bee- 
qucrel. That chemical action was a very fertile source 
of electricity, was ascertained from the experiments of 
Becquerel, De la Rive and Pouillet. 

Galvani engaged in a series of experiments to prove 
the intimate connection between muscular and electri- 
cal action. Galvanism proved to be nothing more 
than electricity ; urn} Yolta showed that the organs of 
the frog were only a delicate test of electric influence. 
No sooner were the magnetic effects of galvanism dis- 
covered by Oersted, than new facts wore brought to 
light by Ampere, Biot, Arago, Davy, and Faraday. 
Treatises on magnetic attractions were written by 
Gumming, Murpliy, and Ijarlow. Ampere was led to 
his doctrine of magnetism from electrical currents, and 



270 ERGONOMY. 

by connecting the facts of electro-dynamics with the 
phenomena of terrestrial magnetism, applied mathe- 
matical analysis to physical research. The chemical 
agency of the voltaic apparatus, a most powerful in- 
strument of a,nalysis, was discovered by Carlisle and 
Nicholson. Davy decomposed the earths, till then re- 
garded as elementary, and revolutionized chemistry. 

Phosphorus was discovered by Brandt, an alchemist 
of Hamburg ; and the two compounds of phosphorus 
and hydrogen have been closely studied b}^ Dumas. 
Buff, Rose, and Graham. Oxygen was first discov- 
ered by Priestley, afterwards by Scheele. Fluorine 
was first obtained in a pure state by Baudrimont. 
Chlorine w^as discovered by Scheele ; and the composi- 
tion of hydrochloric acid was determined by Dav}^, Gay 
Lussac, and Thenard. Belard obtained hypochlorous 
acid in a gaseous form ; and quadrochloride of nitrogen 
was discovered by Dulong, and its properties deter- 
mined by the investigations of Porrett, Wilson, and 
Kirk. Perchlorate of carbon was discovered by Fara- 
day ; and the bleaching powers of chloro-nitrous acid, 
by Davy, Dumas, and Rose. 

Morveau determined the relative tenacity of the 
metals ; and crystallography has been pursued mathe- 
matically by Hauy, Weisse, Whewell, and Rose. Tlie 
chemical changes in germination were investigated by 
Saussure ; and the honor of discovering the existence 
of the vegetable alkalies, is due to Sertuerner, a Ger- 
man apothecary. Tar was subjected to elaborate inqui- 
ry by Reichenback, who discovered in it no few^er than 
six principles. Albumen was found in grain by Ein- 
hoff, in the bitter almond by Vogel. Beccaria examin- 



ERGONOMY. 271 

ed gluten ; and Einhoff discovered its two principles, 
which Tadei illustrated by boiling alcohol. Various 
vegetable principles were obtained by Yauquelin, Robi- 
quetj Klaproth, Pelletier, Horneman, Dulong, Leroux, 
Braconnet, Dublance, Wittstock, and Garot. Respi- 
ration engaged the attention of Priestley, Scheele, 
Lavoisier, Seguin, Crawford, Goodwin, Davy, Ellis, 
Allen, Pepys, Edwards, and Despretz. The arterial- 
ization of the blood has been investigated by Humboldt, 
Henderson, Pfaff, Nysten, and Spallanzani. 

The science of botany involves thousands of grada- 
tions, with myriads of minor modifications. It has 
passed through a long series of cultivators, and receiv- 
ed accessions from Pythagoras, Aristotle, Dioscorides, 
Pliny, and Galen. The Arabs cultivated it for medi- 
cinal and agricultural purposes ; and the discovery of 
the torrid zone has enriched the herbal of Dioscorides 
with two thousand plants. Gesner, the Pliny of Ger- 
many, explored the Alps, discovered new plants, and 
arranged them into groups ; and Clusius, after travel- 
ing over the west of Europe, obtained the direction 
of the Imperial gardens, and became professor of 
botany in Leyden. Csesaralpinus, a native of Florence, 
proposed to form species into classes ; and John Bau- 
chin composed a general history of plants, a work 
evincing learned and accurate investigation. Gaspard 
Bauchin expresses himself decidedly upon distinctions 
formed by grouping similar species, and his work, the 
labor of forty years, was of great assistance to Linnae- 
us in perfecting his artificial system. 

Cain, according to Moses, " was a tiller of the 
ground," Abel offered "the firstlings of his flocks," 



272 E R G N M Y. 

and Noah "planted a vineyard." Egypt, before the 
destruction of Sodom, " was well watered every where 
as the garden of the Lord." The Egyptians ascribe 
the invention of agriculture to superhuman agency. 
The Nile, which diffused a precious deposition, gave 
the people a passion for agriculture, which at an early 
period was superintended by sacerdotal families. The 
Pelasgi, the aboriginal Greeks, were instructed in agri- 
culture by Egyptian colonies. The Euphrates and the 
Jordan, like the Nile, carried the carbonate of lime to 
cultivated fields. The Carthaginians excelled their 
contemporary nations in agriculture ; and the Romans, 
in the purest ages of the Republic, paid a high venera- 
tion to agricultural pursuits. 

Mago, a famous Carthaginian general, composed on 
husbandry twenty books, which were translated into 
Latin by a decree of the Roman senate. Hesiod wrote 
an agricultural poem ; and Xenophon exercised his 
genius on rural economy. Cato, the censor, the states- 
man, the orator, the general, the conqueror, the gov- 
ernor of provinces, derives his most durable honors 
from a voluminous work on agriculture. In the Geor- 
gics of Virgil, the majesty of verse adds dignity to a 
useful pursuit. Columella wrote twelve books, which 
constitute a complete treatise on rural affairs. Varro, 
Pliny, and Palladius, distinguished Romans, wrote on 
agriculture. The improvement in tillage is illustrated 
by a vine-dresser, who gave his daughters portions of 
his vineyard without diminishing his vintage. 

The precepts of ancient writers were founded upon 
very limited experience. The mode of culture in 
Greece was very simple, and that of the Romans 



ERGONOMY. 273 

was conformed to the peculiarity of the soil under til- 
lage. Irrigation was a prominent feature in Lom- 
bardy; and Yirgil advises his countrymen to bring 
down waters in channels to revive drooping fields. 
Pasturing too luxuriant grain, received the highest 
commendations from Yirgil ; and the general mode of 
culture among the Komans, meets the approbation of 
modern cultivators. Pliny ascribes the invention of 
manures to Augeas, a Grecian monarch ; and the 
Romans collected manures from nearly as many 
sources as modern nations. Theophrastus mentions 
six species of manures, and states that a mixture of 
clay and sand produces the same effect as manures. 
Pliny, who wrote during the first century, mentions 
marl as having been long in use in Greece, Gaul, and 
Britain. He describes the appearance of nearly all 
the marls now known, specifies the peculiar effects of 
each on soils, and states the length of time which 
these effects are supposed to last. Varro, who wrote 
before Pliny, mentions having seen fields in Gaul cov- 
ered with a " white fossil clay," and describes several 
varieties in common use. 

The Celts, in the infancy of agriculture, successively 
brought new lands into tillage, leaving the exhausted 
soils to recover for another rotation. This plan is 
still traceable to their descendants in Brittany. They 
burned the natural product, .an amelioration to alumin- 
ous, a deterioration to silicious soils. The system of 
fallows, which was derived from the Romans, was an 
improvement. The Normans introduced into England 
that improved mode of culture which was practiced in 
their own country, and the clergy assisted in reaping 

12* 



274 ERGONOMY. 

grain and making hay. The Belgians planted two 
crops simultaneously, and instituted a beneficial rota- 
tion. 

Experience taught practical farmers that some coun- 
tries are barren or fertile in every age, and under every 
mode of culture. For many centuries, the barrenness 
of Norway and Brandenburg has contrasted with the 
fertility of Flanders and Valencia. Natural manures 
falling for ages, left some soils still noted for barren- 
ness ; and certain soils could not be improved beyond 
a certain degree by artificial manures. Judicious cul- 
tivators, not knowing the defect, bestowed their ma- 
nures on lands naturally fertile, and left their exhaust- 
ed fields to recruit by their own unassisted energies. 
They discovered that manures did not benefit soils 
which were unexceptionable in texture, moisture, and 
superficial inclination. 

In England, Fitzherbert gave directions for enrich- 
ing soils ; Piatt furnished many valuable hints ; and 
TuU excited much useful inquiry. Kaimes, Anderson, 
and Sinclair, display considerable sagacity ; and the 
work of Loudon is scarcely surpassed in any language. 
Serres, who introduced the grasses into France, pub- 
lished a valuable treatise ; and Bufibn and Duham- 
mel gave dignity to rural studies. Societies were 
formed for associating distant cultivators, diffusing 
useful information, and profiting by each other's ex- 
periments. The societies of Paris, Bordeaux, and 
Amiens, have published interesting memoirs. Arthur 
Young made a geological survey of France ; and such 
surveys are now made upon philosophical principles in 
civilized states. Several writers gave the mode of 



EllGONOMY. 275 

» 

culture in their respective districts ; and Rosier and 
Thoin published general views. Buonaparte founded 
botanical gardens for disseminating useful plants, for 
ascertaining the most beneficial culture of the several 
species. Germany has public institutions for instruct- 
ing youth in agricultural philosophy. Societies for 
diffusing information and exhibiting improvements, are 
common in the United States. 

Literary cultivators who applied manures to favor- 
able soils, promised equal success to every one who 
would use the same applications. They aiSirmed, that, 
from long experience, every soil may be urged to the 
highest fertility by manures ; and farmers who culti- 
vated acid soils, made profuse expenditures of manures 
only to be instructed in memorable failures. A cele- 
brated writer, who had operated solely upon calcareous 
soils, affn^ms that " minerals operate only as an excite- 
ment to manures," " that mineral applications termi- 
nate in impoverishment," " that fossils expel the poor 
remnant of life." The applications which he so strong- 
ly reprobated, neutralize acids, fix manures, improve 
textures, quicken vegetation, and roll away desolation 
from many soils. 

Erom the want of a chemical nomenclature, very 
indefinite names w^ere given to substances by agricul- 
turists, mineralogists, and lexicographers. Marl, a 
word used by various writers, affords a proper speci- 
men. " Any loose clay is called marl," "marl is called 
chalk," and " marl" is " a kind of clay much used for 
manures." " Clay marl is a great source of fertiliza- 
tion," " the best manures" for certain soils " is argilla- 
ceous marl," and " pure clay is preferred for very loose 



276 ERGONOMY 

sands." " Silicious sands are called marls," " marl is 
calcareous clay," and " very good marls show nothing 
of effervescence." " Rock, clay, slate, shell marl" were 
mentioned in the same sentence, by a distinguished 
writer. Practice, founded upon such vague descrip- 
tions, often lead to deleterious results. Ruffin has 
taught clearly the action of the carbonate of lime, 
and the particular soils which are benefited by its 
application. 

Animals under disease, have, according to Pliny, 
instructed mankind in various medicines and surgical 
operations. Sheep affected with worms, sought for 
saline substances, and cattle affected with dropsy, 
looked anxiously for chalybeate waters. The vul- 
nerary herb was learned from goats ; purgatives, from 
dogs : clysters, from the ibis ; and bleeding, from the 
hippopotamus. The Chaldeans placed patients by the 
highway, that passengers might prescribe a remedy, 
and the reports of cures were preserved in their tem 
pies. The walls of the sanctuaries of Egypt were 
covered with medical records. The Romans derived 
medicine and surgery, first from the Etruscans, after- 
wards from the Greeks. With the exception of a few 
unconnected fragments, Hippocrates remains " alone 
among the ruins of ancient medical literature." Cel- 
sus, an elegant writer, made little contributions ; Dios- 
corides had great authority ; and Aretseus wrote with 
beauty of language and originality of opinion. Gralen, 
a voluminous writer of the second century, reigned 
supreme till the beginning of modern times. 

Aristomachus of Cilicia, according to Pliny, attended 
solely to bees for forty-eight years ; and Philiscus of 



ERGONOMY. 277 

Thrace, it is said, spent the whole of his lifetime in 
forests, investigating their habits. The study of in- 
sects has been rendered illustrious by Clerck, Lister, 
Albin, De Geer, Fabricius, and Linnaeus. The giant 
mind of Cuvier was first occupied with the study of 
insects, and he associated in his labors the great 
Latreille, the prince of entomologists, who wrote the 
last volume of the imperishable text-book of natural- 
ists for all nations and ages. Ovid represents the 
skillful spider contending with Pallas herself in needle- 
work ; and Virgil, when enumerating the enemies of 
the bee, mentions the web of the spider as a nuisance. 
The Latin poets describe the labors of the spider, in 
terms which show that the ancients had carefully 
studied its peculiar formation and habits. This re- 
markable family of invertebrate animals, has received 
special investigation by modern naturalists. 

One devotes himself to the invention of tools, to the 
application of the mechanic powers to effective ma- 
chinery. The several parts of machinery are inven- 
tions of artificers, who use the discoveries and calcu- 
lations of philosophers. Machinists apply science to 
cars, ships, canals, and railroads. Architects apply 
the laws of gravitation in planning buildings ; opti- 
cians, the laws of light in constructing microscopes ; 
and miusicians, the laws of sound in making musical 
instruments. The properties of metals, hemp, timber, 
the winds, and the atmosphere, are made to contribute 
to navigation. Farmers are beginning to use the 
observations of philosophers, the analysis of chemists, 
the circle of science which concurs in their particular 



278 ERGONOMY. 

art. In rearing tlieir domestic animals, they are 
beginning to appreciate organic chemistry. 

The implements of Grecian husbandry, according to 
Hesiod, consisted of a plow, cart, rake, sickle, and 
goad. The more complicated implements of the Ro- 
mans, are imperfectly described by their classic writers. 
Pliny mentions a plow with a coulter ; Cato, plows for 
light and strong soils ; and Varro, a plow with two 
mould-boards for ridging. Corn was first pounded in 
a mortar, then ground in hand-mills. Cattle-mills 
were in use, and water-mills with a hopper. In later 
periods public mills were turned by the water of the 
aqueducts ; and when Rome was besieged by the Groths 
and the aqueducts intercepted, Belisarius constructed 
floating-mills upon the Tiber. The laws of gravity 
discovered by Galileo, have been made available in 
mechanics. The number of buckets, the detaining of 
water on them, and the proper velocity of the wheel^ 
were problems solved by philosophers. To make mill- 
dams strong enough, to convey water into cities, to 
construct wind-mills in the most effective manner, to 
cause animals to draw to advantage, demonstrate the 
efficient application of science to art, 

Nearchus says that rollers were employed by the 
Hindoos in disengaging the fibres of cotton from the 
seeds. Foot gins were used in America, till Eaves 
made them work by horse-power. To these succeed- 
ed Pottle's gins, which are still held in high repute in 
Georgia. The invention of the saw-gin, by Whitney, 
has conferred a benefit on society which can scarcely 
be estimated in money. 

Hargreaves introduced the jenny which spun thirty 



E R G N M Y. 279 

threads at once ; and Arkwright invented a frame 
moved by power, to work on a vast number of threads 
with greater precision than the human fingers. Ac- 
cording to his own statement, he derived his first hint 
from the elongation of iron bars passing between roll- 
ers. The mule, at first, carried only one hundred 
and forty-four threads ; afterwards, more than a thou- 
sand. Sharpe and Roberts made the mule work with- 
out any human labor, except mending the threads. 
They made, in one year, five hundred and twenty 
mules, carrying more than twenty-eight thousand 
spindles. The application of machinery to spinning 
flax, though a more difficult problem, has been brought 
to perfection in Leeds and Dundee. A warping ma- 
chine, invented by Moody, stops if a single thread 
breaks. 

Mezzotinto engraving was invented by Prince Ru- 
pert. The method of producing raised lines on copper 
plates by galvanic electricity, Avas first published as 
an invention of Professor Jacobi of Russia ; but Thom- 
as Spencer of England, who had been engaged in a 
series of experiments for two years, had proceeded 
further than Jacobi in practical results. The method 
of hardening and softening steel-plates, an invention 
of Perkins, has its salutary influence upon society. 
Chlorine gas was employed in bleaching paper by 
Fourdrinier ; the impression on the endless web, Avas 
removed by a pressure apparatus of Donkin ; and the 
drying cylinder to remove galls, Avas added by AVilks. 

The arch, Avhich seems to have been an Etruscan 
invention, Avas employed by the Romans in bridges 
and triumphal structures. Galileo discovered the 



280 ERGONOMY. 

limits of the magnitude of works of art, to which 
modern edifices conform. Carpentry is determined 
by the highest algebra, by problems solved by pro- 
found mathematicians and accurate experimentalists. 
The carpenter estimates his materials, and exhibits 
his plans and elevations, by rules furnished by science. 
Hollow shafts and masts have been introduced into 
machinery and ships, from a discovery of Galileo that 
hollow cylinders saved materials. Guericke, from a 
suggestion arising from Torricelli's experiment, in- 
vented the air-pump. Boyle, by the suggestion of 
Hooke, made experiments on the mechanical proper- 
ties of air, corrected the defects of the air-pump, and 
rendered it more convenient and useful. It has since 
been improved by Nollet, Gravesande, Smeaton, Prince, 
Cuthbertson, and others. 

A boy who was amusing himself by holding up two 
glasses, perceived the church spire to be much larger 
than ordinary. This singular fact led his father to 
make experiments which resulted in the telescope. 
This instrument has been reduced to optical princi- 
ples, and improved by successive philosophers. The 
refrangibility which made the vision so indistinct as 
to render the refracting telescope almost useless, was 
corrected by DoUand, who fitted together the lenses of 
different dispersive powers, so as to make the light on 
its emersion perfectly colorless. The oxide of lead, 
used to improve the lustre of glass, makes it liable 
to flaws ; but Guinaud of Switzerland has succeeded 
in making lenses, nearly twelve inches in diameter, 
without any such imperfection. 

The steam-engine of the present time, is a combina- 



ERGONOMY. " 281 

tion of inventions accumulated during two centuries, 
and, like a mighty river, is traceable to many contrib- 
utory streams. Bianca, an Italian philosopher, pro- 
posed to turn a mill by the steam issuing from a 
kettle ; and Edward Somerset proposed using the 
elastic force of steam as a prime mover. The method 
of producing a vacuum by the condensation of steam, 
was discovered by Captain Savery, who, by combining 
this discovery with the elastic force suggested by 
Somerset, constructed an engine in .which steam was 
only used for forming a vacuum. All the beautiful 
contrivances for regulating and economizing this vast 
power, have resulted from succeeding machinists. 

Newcomen and Cawley, two tradesmen of Dartoouth, 
attempted to render the power available. The vacu- 
um which was created below from a susrsrestion of 
Guericke, constituted the atmospheric engine. New- 
comen, Cawley, and Savery, entered into partnership 
for making the machinery ; and an accidental circum- 
stance suggested to Newcomen a better raethod of 
condensation, by introducing a jet within the cylinder 
rather than by an external eiFusion. Humphrey Pot- 
ter, a boy, contrived to open and close the valves by 
the machinery itself The valves operated by the 
pulling of strings ; and Brighton, by a plug-frame, 
opened and closed them exactly at the proper moment. 
For half a century no very important step was taken 
in improving the atmospheric engine. 

Smeaton gave much attention to the details of the 
atmospheric engine, and brought it to the highest 
perfection. Watt commenced experiments upon steam 
of high pressure, which he found so dangerous as to 



282 E R G N M Y. 

defer the inquiry for a season. lie became convinced 
of the prodigious waste of steam in the atmospheric 
engine ; and, becoming acquainted with the doctrine 
of latent heat, he gave his whole mind to the consider- 
ation of a method of condensing without cooling the 
cylinder. He contrived a separate vessel for conden- 
sation ; and his plan of " separate condensation" was, 
in the course of a day, ready for experiment. The air- 
pump worked by machinery to draw off the fluid from 
the condenser, the rod working through a stuffing-box, 
was propelled upwards and downwards by steam, and 
the world was presented with a steam-engine. 

Watt contrived to save fuel, to give uniform motion 
to the piston, by closing the valve before the piston 
had descended its full stroke. He converted the 
straight motion of the piston into a circular motion 
at the end of the beam, both for pulling and pushing. 
This beautiful contrivance, the result of a mathemati- 
cal analysis, he perceived apparently without an}^ chain 
of connected reasoning, and looked upon its actual 
operation with the pleasurable sensation of novelty. 
lie converted the vibrating force of the working end 
of the beam to a continuous rotation by a crank. The 
fly-wheel, the crank, the governor, give it dominion in 
the most delicate manufactures. 

Chevalier Edelcrantz regulated the production of 
steam ; and Brunton of Birmingham contrived to 
consume the smoke. To stop the steam before the 
descent was completed, was performed in a peculiar 
manner by Ilornblower and Woolf ; the one by using 
two cylinders of different sizes, the other by a method 
used in a double-acting engine. Cartwright proposed 



E R G N iM Y. 283 

effecting the condensation without a jet, by which the 
liquid for generating steam circuhites through the 
machine without diminution or foreign admixture. 
The ingenious inventor made the piston steam-tight 
in the cylinder without oil or stuffing, and the longer 
it works, the more accurntcly it fits. Trevithink and 
Vivian constructed a double-acting, high pressure en- 
gine, remarkable for ingenuity and elegance. 

Volta constructed the pile which has been improved 
into the battery. The London Institution possesses 
an apparatus made under the direction of Pepys, each 
plate of which is two feet by sixty. This plan origi- 
nated with Doctor Hare of Philadelpliia, who gave it 
the name of calorimotor. Cruikshanks proposed a 
trough with plates of copper and zinc, and its power 
is increased by a suggestion of Wollaston. The bat- 
tery made by Children had plates six feet by two feet 
eight inches. The great battery of the Royal Institu- 
tion, with which Davy discovered the composition of 
the alkalies, was composed of two thousand pair of 
plates. 

Bergmann seems first to have referred dyeing to 
chemical affinities, and verified the fact by several 
elegant experiments. Dufay plunged cloth made of 
cotton and wool into a scarlet dye ; and the woolen 
threads became a vivid red, the cotton continued 
nearly white. Calico printing has been advanced by 
Berthollet, Bancroft, Henry, Thcnard, and Board. 
For bleaching, the imparting of a superlative white- 
ness, society is indebted to Seheele of Sweden and 
Berthollet of France. Their process with improve- 
ments, was first introduced into Manchester by Henry 



284 ERGONOMY. 

and Taylor. The partial discharge of the colors of a 
dyed ground, is an application of Scheele and Ber- 
thollet. 

The mechanic arts, formerly practiced by females 
and servants, were employed in elaborating prime 
necessities in the house. As the refinement of man- 
ners in the middle ages demanded increased elegance, 
free persons engaged in mechanic employments. As 
soon as population congregated in cities, artificers 
acquired honorable distinctions ; and the useful and 
the fine arts, the distinction of modern times, were 
frequently practiced by the same person. These arts 
diverge into various specifications ; such as the car- 
penter, the turner, the wheelwright, the weaver, the 
tailor, the watchmaker. The same specification, 
moreover, has minuter operations assigned to indi- 
vidual workmen. The minute operations of the pot- 
tery are performed by the respective laborers. One 
forms the cup, another applies the mould, another 
turns the vessel, another smooths the surface, another 
applies the varnish, another glazes the vessel, another 
puts it into the oven. The fine arts are divided into 
poetry, music, architecture, painting, and sculpture ; 
and the artists use the com.modities prepared by the 
commonest industry. 

Husbandry, in the time of the first brothers, had 
already dispersed itself into two departments. Agri- 
culture in modern times, has many specifications ; such 
as cultivating hemp, cotton, indigo, rice, corn, or sugar- 
cane. One operative, in the same specification, brings 
together the materials, another turns up the soil, an- 
other' sows the seed, another gathers the fruits into the 



ERGONOMY. 285 

granary. Grinding the grain, as well as baking the 
bread, is executed by particular operatives. Rearing 
animals is often confined to particular species ; such 
as horses, sheep, cows, goats, swine, or mules. The 
preparation of medicines, a valuable office of chemistry, 
is practised by particular chemists. Peruvian bark, 
formerly given in large quantities, is now used in 
the form of sulphate of quinine ; and four chemists 
of Paris concentrated, in one year, one thousand five 
hundred and ninety-three hundred weight into ninety 
thousand ounces, for curing twenty millions. The 
muriate of ammonia, which is distilled from animal 
substances, is confined to a few operatives, who annu- 
ally manufacture twenty tons for soldering in Bir- 
mingham. A celebrated sarsaparilla vender of New 
York, annually puts up four hundred and eighty-eight 
thousand bottles, and is about to enlarge his manu- 
factor}^ 

Some chemists operate on metals ; some, on stony 
substances ; some, on combustibles ; some, on salts ; 
some, on vegetables ; some, on animal bodies. Some 
smelt copper ; some, antimony ; some, cobalt ; some, 
nickel ; some, manganese ; some, arsenic ; some, chro- 
mium. Some extract cadmium ; some, bismuth ; some, 
rhodium. Some manufacture sulphur ; some, coal-gas ; 
some, amber ; some, petroleum ; some, bitumen ; some, 
asphaltum ; some, muriatic acid ; some, chloride of 
lime ; some, alum ; some, soda ; some, potassa ; some, 
nitre ; some, nitric acid ; some, gunpowder ; some, 
borax ; some, sulphate of magnesia. Some refine 
sugar ; some purify starch ; some make artificial 
gums ; some purify oils ; some make soap. Some 



286 E R G N M Y. 

manufacture oil ; some, olive ; some, almond ; some, 
palm ; some, turpentine ; some, citron ; some, anise ; 
some, cinnamon ; some, lavender. Some manufacture 
perfumery ; some, wax ; some, resin ; some, lac ; some, 
mastic ; some, varnish ; some, sealing-wax ; some, nut- 
galls ; some, ink ; some, water-proof cloth. Some ex- 
tract coloring matters ; some purify spermaceti ; some 
make pigments. Some prepare madder ; some, saf- 
flower ; some, archil ; some, logwood ; some, indigo ; 
some, weld. Some bake bread ; some brew beer ; some 
make vinegar. Some make glue ; some, size ; some, 
isinglass ; some, butter ; some, cheese. Some manu- 
facture tallow ; some, candles ; some, leather. Some 
make carmine ; some, cochineal ; some, Prussian blue. 

In the fisheries, one cuts the throat ; another takes 
out the entrails ; another removes the offal ; another 
takes out the back bone ; another salts the fish ; an- 
other puts them up for market. One man scrubs 
the whale-bone ; another scrapes the root-end of the 
blades ; another trims off the fringes of hair ; another 
washes the bone and scrapes the hollows of the root. 

Merchants, distinct elaborators, are divided into 
many specifications. One deals in cutlery ; another, 
in hardware ; another, in groceries ; another, in dry 
goods ; another, in fiincy goods ; another, in jewelry ; 
another, in books. One deals in porcelain ; another, 
in earthen-ware ; another, in wine ; another^ in vine- 
gar ; another, in fruits ; another, in perfumery ; an- 
other, in confectionery ; another, in clothing ; another, 
in cottons ; another, in woolens ; another, in silks ; 
another, in linens ; another, in umbrellas ; another, in 
canes ; another, in thread ; another, in laces ; another. 



ERGONOMY. 287 

in shoes; another, in combs; another, in snuff; an- 
other, in clocks ; another, in toys ; another, in drugs ; 
another, in flour ; another, in school books ; another, 
in prints ; another, in charts and nautical instruments. 

The dyeing establishments of the Roman empire were 
supported at Tarentum ; and dyers from various places 
resorted to Phoenicia for instruction in the art. The 
old linen of one country is transported to another to 
make paper — a beautiful fabric, ready to receive and 
transmit wisdom, business, and friendship, to distant 
ages or places. Bones are picked up, carried to the 
factory, made up into soap-fat, lampblack, carbonate 
of ammonia, sulphate of soda, and muriate of ammonia. 
The tanner separates the horns to sell to the mechanic, 
who works them up into combs, knife-handles, glue, 
soap-fat, transparent substances for lanterns, and 
manure for farmers. Bone-dust manure in Lincoln 
shire has made the crops many times heavier, and a 
vast quantity of it is annually imported into Great 
Britain. Bone mills have lately been established near 
Boston, Providence, Albany, and New York. 

The arts and sciences exhibit many curious inter- 
sections. The astronomer depends for his telescope 
upon the co-operation of many arts, and, in return, his 
observations are the basis of calculating the planetary 
motions which guide the mariner across the ocean. 
The ship-master does not sail to India without the 
"Practical Navigator," which contains rules drawn 
from the highest astronomical science. Every mate, 
who works a lunar observation to ascertain the ship's 
longitude, employs tables which interweave the dis- 
coveries of Newton with the calculations of Laplace. 



288 ERGONOMY. 

To perform these calculations, required the aid of 
tables gradually formed from the profoundest investi- 
gations of a long line of philosophers, who devoted 
themselves to mathematical studies. The observer 
furnishes elements for the calculating astronomer, and 
the calculator derives expeditious methods from the 
pure mathematician. Bowditch used the logarithms 
of Napier and the infinitesimal analysis of Newton, 
and Newton used the algebra of the Arabs and the 
geometry of the Greeks. 

Nature so interlaces human pursuits, that the phi- 
losopher who seems to dwell among the stars, requires 
the aid of numerous artificers for prosecuting his stud- 
ies. The astronomer, in return, furnishes important 
facilities to the sister sciences, the arts, and the hum- 
blest manual industry. The factory for casting his 
lenses, requires a building with a furnace, and the 
manufacturer of glass employs the carpenter and the 
mason to execute these respective structures. The 
materials for making and coloring glass, come from 
different regions in ships which employ ship-carpen- 
ters, weavers, and metallurgists. Each art is con- 
nected with the others in the nicest convolutions. 
The mason Avho builds the furnace, neither makes 
his own bricks nor burns his own lime, two elabora- 
tions which come from different locations. The brick- 
maker does not cut his own wood, a commodity which 
is carted in wagons and conveyed in boats. The 
carter does not make his own Avagon, nor does the 
boatman construct his own vessel. The man who 
makes the wagon, does not make the tire ; and the 
smith who makes the tire, does not smelt the ore. 



ERGONOMY. 289 

The man who smelts the ore, neither builds his own 
furnace, nor digs his own mine ; and the man who 
digs the ore, neither makes his own pick, nor the 
pump which keeps out tli,e water. The pump-maker 
did not discover the atmospheric pressure ; but the 
principle of pump-making was discovered by a mathe- 
matician of Florence, as he was experimenting with a 
glass tube. 

In the fabrication of a yard of printed cotton, the 
arts and sciences cross like the warp and woof of the 
manufactured commodity. The cotton-mill, the steam- 
engine, the complicated machinery, the hydraulic press 
which forms the fabric into a bale, the railroad which 
conveys it to market, illustrate these curious intersec- 
tions. The spinning machinery is constructed upon 
the demonstrations of transcendental mathematics, and 
the bleaching and dyeing result from the profoundest 
researches of modern chemistry. The chemist deter- 
mines the mordant which fixes the color ; the geogra- 
pher describes the country which affords the dye ; and 
the astronomer demonstrates the rule which guides the 
ship across the sea. To convey the cotton from Ala- 
bama, the indigo from Bengal, the oil from the fishing 
grounds of the Pacific, requires ships, with the sciences, 
arts, and occupations necessary in building such com- 
plicated structures. The cotton-gin, the carding-ma- 
chine, the power-loom, the sciences and arts employed 
in constructing the various machinery, play their part 
in completing this single commodity. To manufacture 
a yard of calico which costs ten cents, employs every 
science, every art, every occupation under heaven. 

13 



CHAPTER X 



THE MENSURATION. 



Every commodity, with its minutest parts, is esti- 
mated by the nicest geometry. Human labor, elicited 
by human wants, is a mathematical induction which 
has been already illustrated by so many particular ex- 
amples. Labor, like gravity, is embodied in sub- 
stances. Gravity is ascertained by the balance ; labor, 
by the exchangeability in the mart. The proportion- 
ality of gravitation is a fixed quantity ; the propor- 
tionality of elaboration is always flowing, and, in every 
stage, is always indicated in the market. As the labor 
which generates commodities is measurable by mathe- 
matical principles, a moderate understanding enters 
into the mensuration with the greatest facility. The 
enumeration of the variegated results by applying a 
single principle, introduces the greatest simplicity into 
this elegant science. 

The movements of commodities, like those in other 
systems, result from forces which always preserve a 
salutary steadiness. These forces, unlike those of 
other systems, are known by the most impressive ex- 
perience. Other systems have forces which are diffi- 
cult to discover ; the system of labor has intellectual 



ERGONOMY. 291 

forces "which are inseparable from human beings. The 
want of commodities and the labor necessary to obtain 
them, are forces exemplified in the commonest experi- 
ence. Want, an apparatus coiled up in the human 
bosom, keeps up constantly an impetuous working, a 
perpetual panting for food and raiment, for houses and 
equipage, for trinkets and furniture. The elaboration 
of commodities is fully illustrated in men's daily em- 
ployments. As no genii come at his bidding, man is 
necessitated to toil for the satisfaction of his wants j 
and a thousand daily sensations, at the anvil or the 
loom, define elaborative cost with the most impressive 
nicety. As the student finds these forces in his own 
person, he need not resort to costly apparatus or ex- 
tensive libraries. 

Want is perpetually attracting commodities ; the 
toil of elaboration is perpetually repressing its cease- 
less impetuosity. These forces give direction to hu- 
man pursuits, proportionality to commodities, and sta- 
bility to the Industrial system. The possessory afi"ec- 
tion which constitutes demand, is always pressing with 
determinate urgency ; and nature, which afi'ords the 
supply, is always ^delding with determinate liberality. 
To the most imperious demands — the necessaries of 
life — nature yields with little reluctancy ; to the secon- 
dary demands — the embellishments of civilization — she 
gives up her bounties with a more parsimonious hand. 
Nature neither demands an excess of labor to reduce 
man to a machine, nor a deficiency of exertion to sink 
him into the brutal ranks. The pressure of want and 
the liberality of nature, existing in various degrees of 
force, cause the quantity of the respective commodities 



292 ERGO NO MY. 

and the amount of labor expended in their procure- 
ment, to appear in endless variety. 

Silver is so much more demandable than gold, as to 
bring about fifty-fold more of it into the market. Na- 
ture, moreover, yields silver with so much more liber- 
ality, that the labor of obtaining an ounce of gold is 
equivalent to that of obtaining sixteen ounces of silver. 
Specific labor, the actual toil embodied in given sub- 
stances, explains the philosophy of the mart in its 
minutest details. Assuming a cubic inch of water as 
a standard, the specific gravity of mercury is fourteen ; 
so, assuming an ounce of silver as a standard, the spe- 
cific labor of gold is sixteen. The specific labor of 
every commodity is always expressible in ounces of 
silver, accurate measures of the Industrial attribute in 
substances. A bushel of rice is equivalent to three 
ounces ; a yard of cloth, to four ; a barrel of flour to 
six ; an acre of land, to twenty ; a piano-forte, to two 
hundred. Specific labor, or price, is always indicated 
by the exchangeability in the mart at any given period. 

Price, being a fluxionary quantity, is difterent at 
different periods, and is always adjusting itself to pro- 
gressive improvements. At Athens, in the time of 
Solon, a sheep was equivalent to a bushel and a half of 
corn ; in England, a few centuries ago, a pound of corn 
was equivalent to a pound of meat ; and in the High- 
lands of Scotland, at a later period, a pound of oat- 
meal, according to Ilume, was equivalent to a pound of 
beef. Potatoes, in the sixteenth century, were " no- 
ticed among the articles provided for the queen's house- 
hold," and " the price was two shillings a pound." Two 
cauliflowers cost two shillings ; sixteen artichokes, 



E R G N M y. 293 

three shillings and fourpence. The labor employed in 
agriculture, through the successful application of sci- 
ence, has in some places quadrupled in efficiency, and 
aftbrds abundant food at diminished prices. The labor 
employed in the cotton manufacture has, within a cen- 
tury, acquired more than a hundred-fold efficiency, and 
greatly reduced the price of cotton goods in modern 
times. 

Price, being the average result of fluxionary quan 
tities, is a measure which possesses unusual accuracy. 
The specific labor of commodities, a variable quantity 
has numerous averages arising from its fluxionary na 
ture. Human want, a variable quantity, is ascertained, 
at a given period, by the number of ounces of silver 
offered for a particular commodity ; and as the want 
of the whole community acts upon the same commod- 
ity, the average intensity is most accurately exhibited 
in ounces of silver. Some elaborations are estimated 
above, some below the medium cost ; and the mean 
proportional of the several estimates, stamps the price 
upon the respective commodities. What is lost in one, 
is gained in another Industrial pursuit ; and as the 
averages among the respective elaborators are so very 
numerous, the estimation of Industrial intensity is 
made with extreme exactitude. The average price, 
like the magnetic needle, vibrates freely till it settles 
down with certainty and firmness. 

The first averages occur in the family circle. The 
possessory attraction, like gravity in bodies, dwells in 
the several human beings. As the gravity of bodies 
is centred in a single point, so the possessory attrac- 
tion of families is centred in the patriarch, the family 



294 ERGONOMY. 

representative. The same Divine wisdom that placed 
the material universe in systems, " setteth the solitary 
in families." The gravitation of a primar}^ planet in- 
cludes its satellites ; so each member of a family makes 
a demand through its representative. Avho modifies as 
well as represents the family wants. Each family is 
a unit in the mart. The family is a reservoir into 
which commodities flow, and from which each mem- 
ber receives continuous supplies. The patriarch gath- 
ers around him a circle of dependents ; and the store 
of accumulated commodities, like a Cartesian system, 
is an orb with a vortex of its own. The defenceless 
individual is supplied with commodities from distant 
locations, through a patriarch ; and the stability of the 
system is promoted by placing the human species in 
family groups. 

The same patriarch who is urged by the concentrat- 
ed wants of a family, directs the concentrated labor 
of the same group for its united sustenance and embel- 
lishment. As the labor of the family community is 
directed by patriarchal authority, the industry of the 
whole group, as well as its wants, is regulated with 
superior intelligence. The aggregate labor of each 
family is compared with the aggregate labor of every 
other family ; and the competition of these family 
aggregations, produces those movements which keep 
up the salutary equilibrium. The few competitors of 
a rude society, occasion long vibrations ; the many 
competitors of a cultivated society, occasion short 
vibrations in price. The fluxionary vibrations, in 
every case, adapt themselves to social improvements. 

The labor of a family is sometimes so employed that 



ERGONOMY. 295 

none of it is directly consumed upon its own wants. 
The elaboration of the most commodities with the least 
toil, is the sole rule which guides the respective patri- 
archs. As a bird moves in cycloidal curve to reach 
its destined spot in the shortest time, so the patri- 
arch pursues a circuitous industry to gain the most 
equivalency with the least exertion or toil. Every one 
avails himself of the particular advantages of his situ- 
ation, to work on the particular materials furnished by 
nature, to consult his own genius or disposition, to 
apply himself to the task in which he is best qualified 
to succeed. The woodman betakes himself to the cul- 
ture of his timber ; the owner of a clay pit, to the 
supply of the potteries ; the shepherd, to the care of 
his flocks ; and the husbandman, to the cultivation of 
his fields. The mariner resorts to his ship ; the mer- 
chant, to his counting-house ; the mechanic, to his 
shop ; the philosopher, to his study ; and the chemist, 
to his laborator3^ The saving of labor, not the vari- 
ety of material or industry, is kept constantly in view. 
The patriarch endeavors to transfer the family labor 
into the most lucrative channel, and suffers no distinc- 
tion of material or mode of labor to divert him from 
pursuing superior profitableness. The particular vari- 
ety of industry employed in elaboration, is merely a 
speculative curiosity ; for every variety sometimes 
enters into a commodity, by curious intersections and 
surprising multiplicity. 

Two distinct classes, venders and purchasers, are 
continually in the mart, with directly opposite inter- 
ests. Venders strive to raise their elaborations to 
the highest price ; purchaserF^ to depress the same 



296 E R G N M Y. 

elaborations to the lowest possible point. Each class 
meets with that active competition which fixes price 
upon the several commodities. As no commodity in 
the market is isolated, every portion is acted upon by 
antagonist forces ; and as equivalent commodities are 
estimated by mental comparisons, they possess, like 
the radii of a circle, a mathematical equality. The 
same family being both a vender and a purchaser, 
comes into competition in vending and purchasing. 
As each family elaborates commodities for another's 
use, a comparison of labor necessarily arises. 

The sum offered is a mathematical expression of an 
internal want ; and purchasers being limited by their 
actual resources, fix the average demand with mathe- 
matical exactitude. Want seeks the least toilsome 
road to acquisition ; and the respective families being 
in continuous competition, one does not suffer another 
to enjoy a permanent advantage. The activity of 
competition precludes a lasting advantage in any par- 
ticular pursuit. Superior profit is a stimulus, inferior 
profit is a repulsion to elaboration. Labor, like atmos- 
pheric elasticity; rushes into vacant channels, which, 
when replenished, impel it into other employments. 
The keenness of competition suffers the profits of no 
commodity to far outstrip another ; for, as soon as 
profits fall far behind the ordinary average, some 
immediately cease to elaborate the unprofitable com- 
modities. As soon as the wave of price rises, some 
turn to the profitable employment ; as soon as the 
wave sinks, some turn to more lucrative pursuits. 
Competition, in the long run, causes exchangeability 
to coincide with actual labor in commodities. 



E R G N M Y. 297 

As the weight of a body, multiplied by its velocity, 
gives its momentum ; so the quantity of a commodity, 
multiplied by its price, gives its sum, or its momentum 
in the mart. The quantity and the price, the two 
factors, often change without affecting the actual 
equivalency. The two factors always flow in opposite 
directions ; the greater the quantity the less the price, 
the less the quantity the greater the price. The farm- 
er employs a given amount of labor in cultivating his 
plants, and receives nearly as many ounces of silver 
for scanty as for abundant harvests. As the quantity 
of his corn is enlarged, the same labor being more 
extended, has less intensity ; as the quantity is di- 
minished, the same labor being less extended, has a 
greater intensity. As one factor increases as the 
other decreases, the sum remains nearly stationary ; 
and the equivalency of the mass, compared with silver, 
is nearly a constant quantity. The fluxion of both 
factors in opposite directions, tends to equalize the 
labor in equivalent commodities. The exchangeability, 
the result of competition, is the only mode of ascertain- 
ing industrial proportions. As each family elaborates 
commodities which are used by other families, a par- 
tial failure inflicts no very serious calamity. The 
fluxionary provision of nature, like an insurance com- 
pany of society, spreads a partial calamity over the 
whole community. 

The industrial momentum, a slightly variable quan- 
tity, soon returns to its medium condition. It is equal- 
ized by numerous averages, and has less vibrations as 
civilization multiplies human pursuits. Some momen- 
tums, as both factors are nearly stationary, are in 



298 ERGONOMY. 

equipoise ; others, as the factors are exceedingly vari- 
able, flow rapidly into equilibrium. In agriculture, 
some elements contribute to ripen ; some, to blast his 
harvest. As the price of every variety of plants does 
not fall at the same time, every new plant affords 
additional security. The season which is injurious 
to one plant, is harmless to another ; hence, the more 
varieties in cultivation, the less the chances for suffer- 
ing from unpropitious vicissitudes. To restore the 
system to an equipoise, only a few elaborators change 
their employments, and those few are the versatile in 
disposition. As those who are entering into active 
life choose the vacant channels, few are compelled to 
leave their favorite pursuits. 

Vibrations are beneficial and necessary results. 
The excursions from a medium condition, after reach- 
ing a definite limit, instantly recoil. Those vibrations 
which play far from the average condition, like those 
in a storm, are rapidly restored : and those which move 
through long periods, like those in the solar system, 
are almost imperceptible quantities. Hazardous pur- 
suits suit the adventurous ; constant ones, the cautious 
elaborator. The fluxionary provision is so adjusted as 
not to disturb the general constancy. Nature has 
provided the simplest apparatus for effecting, so rapid- 
ly and efficaciously, the astonishing result of equal- 
izing the labor embodied in equivalent commodities. 
The particular forces which are neutralized, like com- 
mon quantities in algebraic equations, are counted for 
nothing. The ultimate result is produced as surely 
and elegantly, as the apparatus employed is efficacious 
and simple. 



E R G N M Y. 299 

The smallest portion of labor which enters into a 
commodity, is estimated by mathematical principles. 
The several portions taken from larger commodities, 
are distributed through the given commodity in ex- 
treme minuteness. A loaf of bread has numerous 
portions of labor, each of which had its average price 
while existing in larger quantities. Not only the 
toils of the plowman, miller, and baker ; but also 
the labors of breaking the oxen, constructing the 
plow, sowing the seed, felling the timber, forging 
the iron, building the mill, dressing the stones, erect- 
ing the oven, enter into this necessary commodity. 
The artificers are employed upon iron, wood, leather, 
bark, stones, bricks, coal, lime, cloth, masts, ropes, and 
other commodities too numerous for insertion in the 
catalogue. These minute labors, employed upon Di- 
vine gratuities, exemplify the estimated industries 
which enter into a single commodit3^ 

The minuteness of Industrial portions are more 
impressively illustrated by a separation into distinct 
orders. The wages of those artificers who labor im- 
mediately upon a 3^ard of w^oolen cloth, constitute the 
first order, each contributing a very minute portion. 
Artificers of the second, make tools for those of the 
first order ; and since this second remove brings in a 
multiplicity of workmen, the portions are subdivided 
in still greater minuteness. Labor of the third order, 
being employed in constructing machines for making 
tools for the second order, is dispersed into still 
minuter portions. Labor proceeds to remoter orders, 
extenuating itself as it radiates farther from the first 
centre. 



300 ERGONOMY. 

The yard of cloth, the manufactured article, is com- 
posed of various elaborations which formerly existed 
in larger quantities. The wool, the oil, the dye, the 
mordant, existed in larger masses before their trans- 
fusion into the cloth ; and the joint labors of a multi- 
tude of remunerated artificers, are averaged over the 
diminutive fabric. The shepherd, the sorter, the 
comber, the carder, the dyer, the spinner, the weaver, 
the fuller, the merchant, all join their respective arts 
in its completion. The equivalency of each contrib- 
utor of the first order, is very small in every yard. 

The tools of the first order were made out of exist- 
ing elaborations, the consumption of which is an item 
of expense entering into the cloth. The miner, the 
mason, the forgeman, the woodman, the collier, the 
brickmaker, the blacksmith, each receive a compensa- 
tion for their labor in fabricating the shears for clip- 
ping the wool. The carding-machine was elaborated 
by several artificers, who derived assistance from re- 
munerated philosophers. The dyer uses drugs from 
distant regions, and instruments made by several 
workmen for stipulated payments. The apparatus 
of the spinner was constructed upon scientific princi- 
ples, and caused a complication of wages to be distrib- 
uted among the respective contributors. The loom of 
the weaver, the mill of the fuller, dispersed stipulated 
sums among various artificers. The merchant has a 
warehouse erected by many workmen upon various 
materials ; and the mariner has a complicated vessel 
constructed by ship-carpenters, rope-makers, sail-mak- 
ers, and inductive philosophers. The vessel, with its 
^iggiiig and charts, transfuses a small portion of its 



ERGONOMY. 301 

cost into tlie imported drugs. The remuneration of 
artificers of the second order, as it decreases in a 
geometrical series, constitutes a minute portion of the 
labor embodied in the given cloth. 

The transfused labor grows more mmute as it turns 
in every direction into the successive commodities. 
The apparatus employed by the second order of arti- 
ficers, was constructed by the third order. Husband- 
men, planters, shepherds, architects, painters, seam- 
sters, astronomers, geographers, chemists, machinists, 
meteorologists, weighers, gaugers, botanists, paper-mak- 
ers, type-founders, inkmakers, compositors, proof-read- 
ers, pressmen, book-binders, engineers, instrument 
makers, carmen, sailors, and supercargoes, receive a 
remuneration, part of which enters into the price of 
the cloth after various windings. The labor of each 
artificer of the third order, is dispersed into smaller 
portions among the commodities used by the second 
order. These minute portions of labor enter into the 
commodities used by those who finish the cloth. 

The mensuration is impressively illustrated by be- 
ginning at the remoter orders. An artificer of the 
tenth order finishes a tool of which iron constitutes 
a tenth portion, and this tool is used by another arti- 
ficer in making a machine of Avhich the original iron 
constitutes no more than a hundredth portion. An 
artificer uses this machine in constructing an engine 
of which the original elaboration constitutes only the 
thousandth part of its actual cost. This engine is 
employed in making a particular part of another 
machine, of which the original elaboration contrib- 
utes only the ten thousandth portion in the expend- 



302 E R G N O M Y. 

iturc. This part again spreads itself over another 
tool, Avhieli extends the tenuity of tlie original elab- 
oration to the liundre<l thousjindth degree of its ori- 
ginal intensity. Tlie original elaboration, on reaching 
the first order, has diminished in intensity to the ten 
thousand millionth degree. 

Every portion of labor which enters into any coni- 
niodity, is measured by fluxionary principles. The 
price, at any speciiie<l period, is seen in the mart, 
and estimated in the minutest details in the successive 
periods. As the original elaboration decreases as the 
superadded intensity augments, every commodity con- 
tains a given amount of labor in its whole mass. The 
wear of the wheels, the waste of putt}^, the loss of 
emery, augment the price of cut glass. The different 
parts of dress are made up of a succession of infini- 
tesimal quantities, which, like infinitesimal atoms in 
tlie universe, arc only appreciable in larger bodies. 
The tailor, in making a coat, slowly consumes a needle 
which was formed by successive artificers. Minute 
labor enters into shoes, beds, household furniture, 
grates, and tlie coal which is dug from the earth, 
and conveyed by a long sea and land carriage. The 
bread, the tea, the beef, and the sugar, were elaborated 
by successive laborers ; so also the kitchen furniture, 
consisting of spoons, knives, forks, arid plates. Mul- 
titudes contribute to each commodity, and receive a 
proper equivalency for their respective contributions. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE DISTRIBUTION. 



The several portions of the same commodity, tiiough 
elaborated in distant regions, flow into the nicest artic- 
ulations. The fruits of Portugal and Barbadoes min- 
gle in the same repast; the pith of an Indian cane 
sweetens the infusion of a Chinese plant. A private 
citizen, without tempting the deep, uses coffee from 
Mocha, oranges from Florida, figs from Italy, raisins 
from Malaga, sugar from the West, and spices from the 
East. The scarf comes from the torrid zone, the tippet 
from the polar circle, the brocade vest from Peru, and 
the diamond necklace from Hindostan. One clothes 
himself with vegetable fleeces from Alabama, with 
warm furs from Hudsonia, decorates his person with 
pearls polished in the Persian Gulf, and walks on car- 
pets manufactured in the dominions of the Grreat Mo- 
gul. The bounties of distant regions are transfused 
into every city, town, village, hamlet, and cottage. 

Commodities are collected together by merchants, 
the commercial ambassadors. Elaborators cast their 
surplus commodities into the proprietary reservoir, and 
merchants distribute them throughout society. Mer- 
chants, one of the varieties of elaborators, are useful 



304 ERGONOMY. 

wheels in the social structure for distributing salubri- 
ous plenty. As each contributor takes away those 
commodities which supply his family wants, a vascular 
system is made to run from the reservoir, which pro- 
pels commodities with mighty pulsations to the re- 
motest extremities. Merchants, actuated by lucrative 
motives, supply the community, without exposure to 
boisterous seas, malignant climates, or barbarous na- 
tions. 

Distribution is a variety of human industry ; and 
man, in his efforts to acquire, gives efficacy to the dis- 
tributive law. That commodity w^hich forms no part 
of his private accommodation, procures for the elabo- 
rator any other commodity which he deems most desi- 
rable for his own conveniency. As no merchant can 
long pursue an unprofitable trade, the real spring of 
commerce is continuous advantages. The equilibrium 
is so rapidly restored, that the profits of every depart- 
ment of labor are very nearly stationary. Industry 
flows to agriculture, to the arts, to commerce, as soon 
as one employment becomes more efficacious in sup- 
plying human wants. As every commodity is attached 
to the best market, price acts as a delicate balance for 
weighing out the bounties of Nature, for prolonging 
human subsistence till the fruits of another season are 
brought to maturity. This beautiful contrivance turns 
the world into a common mart. 

The fluxion of price, like water upon a mill, so regu- 
lates itself as to secure an accurate distribution. Dis- 
tribution, from an exact mensuration, accommodates 
itself to the prospective quantity ; and the annual pro- 
ducts of the earth are so distributed for consumption, 



ERGONOMY. 305 

as to last till the new supply can reach the mart. An 
increase of quantity so diminishes the price, that the 
husbandman does not receive an augmented revenue. 
As the possessors of corn are desirous to sell out dur- 
ing the year, they so fix the price as to vend their pro- 
duce before the next year's supply comes to maturity. 
In propitious seasons, the community consume more 
corn than usual ; and a scarcity immediately raises the 
price, Avhich, like a scarcity in a ship, puts every one 
on short allowance. As that which remains after the 
new supply arises, must be sold at a diminished price, 
the holders of corn fix the price no higher than to pro- 
long consumption to the end of the year. If consump- 
tion begins too briskly, prospective scarcity so raises 
the price as to slacken the rate ; if consumption begins 
too sparingly, prospective plenty so diminishes the 
price as to freshen up the rate. By means of this flux- 
ionary provision, consumption is prolonged evenly over 
the whole year. The annual tide of price rolls uni- 
formly high during unpropitious seasons, and the rip- 
ples which occur in the intervals, contribute to pre- 
serve the general equilibrium. The consumption of 
each respective commodity is, by the fluxionary pro- 
cess, spread over a definite period. 

The fluxionary price distributes commodities over 
space as well as over time. The city of New York, 
which sometimes contains no more flour than will suf- 
fice for a few weeks, is never without that necessary 
commodity. As soon as a scarcity occurs, the eleva- 
tion of price causes an influx which soon sinks the 
price. Price sends food to the millions congregated in 
cities, in the proper quantity, at the proper time. The 



306 ERGONOMy. 

same fluxion pertains to every commodity ; and a gen- 
tle vibration, by propelling commodities to market, pre- 
serves the equilibrium. 

Tlie fluxion of price sends commodities to distant 
locations, for receiving additional industr3^ A com- 
modity sometimes takes a curious circuit to arrive at 
completion ; and the cost of transportation, iii each 
successive stage, is less than the disadvantages of com- 
pleting the manufacture in its present location. In- 
termediate distribution is illustrated by a pound weight 
of muslin, -which was recently sent from Glasgow to 
London. The cotton, an elaboration of America, was 
sent through London to Manchester, and there manu- 
factured into yarn. The yarn was sent to Paisley to 
be woven ; the cloth, to A^'resliire to be tamboured ; 
the fabric, to Dumbarton for another operation. After 
being returned to Paisley, the commodity was sent to 
Renfrew to be bleached, and then made a third visit to 
Paisley. It was sent to Glasgow to be finished, and 
then to London to be sold. The expense of conveying 
the elaboration three thousand miles by sea, and nine 
hundred and twenty by land, was inconsiderable, while 
the price, in the mean time, increased two thousand 
per cent, in the various operations. 

Commodities find their appropriate markets. Phoe- 
nicia, which possessed an unfruitful territory, attracted 
" gold and silver into its treasuries," ornamental manu- 
factures into its saloons, and agricultural commodities 
into its granaries. Tyre, " situated at the entry of 
the sea," became " a merchant for many isles," and her 
ships were constructed of the finest materials by for- 
eign artists. The planks were made of the " fir trees 



E R G N M Y. 307 

of Senir ;" the masts, of " the cedars of Lebanon ;" the 
oars, of " the oaks of Bashan;" the benches, of ivory 
from " the isles Chittim ;" and the sails, of " fine linen 
•with embroidered work from Egypt." The Gebalites 
were her ship-carpenters ; the Sidonians, her mari- 
ners ; the Persians, her mercenary soldiery. The mer- 
chants of Tarshish traded at Tj^re, with " a multitude 
of all kind of riches, with sliver, iron, tin and lead ;" the 
Javanites, " with vessels of brass in her market ;" and 
the Togarmeans, Avith " horses, horsemen, and mules." 
The Dedanites traded in " horns of ivory and ebony ;" 
the Israelites, in " wheat and hone}^, oil and balm ;" 
and the Syrians, in " emeralds, purple and embroidered 
work, coral and agate." Damascus traded in the 
"wine of Helbon, and white wool;" Dedan, in "pre- 
cious cloths and chariots ;" Arabia, in " lambs and 
goat3 ;" and Sheba, in "spices, precious stones, and 
gold." 

The Sidonians and Tyrians were the most enter- 
prising merchants in ancient times. Astronomy, after 
its decline in Chaldea and Egypt, was applied to navi- 
gation by the Phoenicians, who became factors for 
nearly the whole commercial world. Their ships fre- 
quented the Mediterranean, passed the straits of Gib- 
raltar, and visited the western coasts of Africa and 
Spain. They held, at the same time, several commo- 
dious harbors on the Arabian Gulf, and, after the man- 
ner of the Egyptians, established a regular intercourse 
with Africa, Arabia, and India. They imported from 
these countries many valuable commodities, and, for 
a long time, engrossed that lucrative trade without a 
rival. They landed their cargoes at Elath, the safest 



308 ERGONOMY. 

harbor on the Red Sea, carried them to Rhinocolura on 
the Mediterranean, and, after reshipping them, trans- 
ported them to Tyre. 

The vast profits of the Phoenicians excited the Jews, 
in the time of Solomon, to pursue a similar trade. The 
pastoral pursuits of the Jews made them somewhat 
averse to manufactures. They established an empo- 
rium at Ezion-geber for trading with the Eastern seas, 
■while their connection with the Tyrians enabled them 
to participate in the Mediterranean commerce. As 
they received linen yarn from Egypt, this commer- 
cial intercourse improved their manufactural industry. 
The large spinning factories of Egypt exported yarn, 
while, at the same time, the weaving establishments of 
Palestine furnished cloth for foreign trade. 

The Rhodians obtained the sovereignty of the seas 
nine hundred years before the Christian era, and were 
celebrated for their naval power and discipline. The 
Athenians kept up a very busy intercourse with the 
Greek colonies in Asia Minor, on the borders of the 
Euxine and Hellespont, in the islands of the iEgean, 
and in Sicily and Italy. Attica was favorably situated 
for commerce ; and its merchants, besides receiving 
the corn, wines, and metals, which came from various 
places on the Mediterranean, imported timber, salted 
fish, woolen and other stuff's, from Asia Minor and 
Syria ; and honey, wax, tar, and hides, from the cities 
on the Black Sea. They exported the different pro- 
ducts of Attica, and the foreign commodities brought 
for exportation. 

Carthage, a colony of Tyre, surpassed its parent 
state in naval affairs. The Carthaginians passed the 



ERGONOMY. 309 

Straits of Gibraltar, visited the coasts of Spain and 
Gaul, reached the more distant shores of Britain, and 
sailed south along the western coast of Africa, till they 
arrived almost at the tropic of Cancer. They discov- 
ered the Canaries, the utmost boundary of ancient 
navigation in the western ocean, and planted colonies 
to accustom the natives to civilization and commerce. 

Ceylon, from the earliest times, has been celebrated 
for its trade with India, Persia, and Ethiopia. Near- 
chuSj Arrian, Pliny, and Ptolemy, mention its commer- 
cial importance, and subsequently its trade was car- 
ried on by merchants from Arabia and Malabar. Ara- 
bian merchants emigrated to the island, founded eight 
flourishing cities, and advanced it to its greatest com- 
mercial prosperity. Their trade extended into Egypt, 
Arabia, Persia, India, China, and the intervening isl- 
ands. In the twelfth century, Ceylon had become the 
rendezvous of the merchant princes of the world, and 
merchants from the remote countries of Asia expected 
arrivals from its markets. 

Under the Roman domination, the fleet of Egypt was 
fixed at a certain period ; and the lucrative trade of 
Arabia and India flowed through the port of Alexan- 
dria into the Roman provinces. As soon as the rich 
cargo had been transported on the backs of camels 
from the Red Sea to the Nile, it descended to Alexan- 
dria, and poured into the Roman capital and empire. 
In the time of Alexander Severus, a catalogue of East- 
ern commodities mentions " cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, 
ginger," "the whole tribe of aromatics," "a great 
variety of precious stones," "Parthian and Babylo- 



310 EjUGONOMY. 

nian leather, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, 
ebony, and ivory." 

The renowned Hanseatic Association, which began 
in the thirteenth century, originated with the cities of 
Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburgh. The Hanse towns 
became the asylum of commerce and the retreats ot 
civilization, when the rest of Europe was subjected to 
the iron sway of the feudal system, and the northern 
seas were infested by " savage clans and roving bar- 
barians." The association became so safe a,nd benefi- 
cial a confederacy, that all the cities and large towns* 
on the Baltic and the navigable rivers of Germany, to 
the number of eighty-one, acceded to the union. Mag- 
nus and Olaus, the historians of Sweden and the Goths, 
give a glowing account of the former wealth and com- 
mercial prosperity of Wisbury, the ancient capital of 
Gothland, and then a free and independent city. It 
was once the most celebrated and flourishing empori- 
um in Europe — a resort for merchants from all pa.rts. 

The discovery of a passage to India by De Gama, as 
well as the discovery of America by Columbus, pro- 
duced a prodigious effect upon commercial pursuits. 
The English, the second people that ventured to the 
new world, did not relax their commercial progress. 
Mary endeavored not to interfere with the Spanish 
monarch, as to an intercourse opened with Russia in 
the preceding reign. On the accession of Elizabeth, 
commenced a period highly auspicious to the extension 
of commerce. Domestic and foreign tranquillity fos- 
tered the rising spirit. Drake circumnavigated the 
globe ; and the English became impressed with confi- 
dence in their own courage and abilities. 



ERGONOMY. 311 

Great Britain having discovered a passage to Arch- 
angel, opened a beneficial trade with Muscovy. Enc^- 
lish merchants ventured into the Russias, transported 
their goods along the Dwina in boats, carried them up 
this stream in larger boats, conve3^ed them by land to 
Yereslau, and ^Yafted them down the Yolga to Astra- 
khan. Their goods were then shipped across the Cas- 
pian, and distributed into Persia. 

At present, Hamburgh is the depot of the numerous 
elaborations of Saxony and Bohemia, the principal 
channel of trade between Great Britain and the Ger- 
man States. Frankfort exhibits great commercial ac- 
tivity ; Bremen has a vast intercourse with America ; 
and Leipsic is the centre of trade with the interior of 
Europe. Trieste, a depot of the Levant elaborations, 
imports British goods, and the produce of the New- 
foundland fisheries. Prussia trades along the shores 
of the Baltic ; and Denmark transports the elabora- 
tions of the Indies on the Baltic and Mediterranean. 
France trades with every country, has possessions in 
both the Indies, and keeps up factories on both sides 
of Cape Yerde on the African coast. Milan is cele- 
brated for its silk trade ; Leghorn is the centre of the 
English Mediterranean commerce ; and Venice, though 
shorn of its ancient splendor, has an extensive com- 
merce. Antwerp, a city of the Belgic Netherlands, 
has a very extensive trade. Russia trades with 
Turkey by the Black Sea, with Persia by the Cas- 
pian, with China by land. Madrid has some commer- 
cial importance, and Cadiz is a considerable mart. 
The inland trade of Asia is effected by caravans, 
which sometimes contain fifty thousand merchants 



312 ERGONOMY. 

and travelers. The grand centre of this operation is 
Mecca, which, in the business season, exhibits an ac- 
tive scene of commercial magnificence. The Persian 
trade is conducted chiefly by the cities of Bagdad and 
Bassora. Persia is supplied through the Arabian 
caravans with European and American commodities. 

Merchandise, in obedience to human wants, passes, 
after various windings, to its destination, as if endowed 
with intelligence. To England the United States send 
cotton, for cloths, hardware, and porcelain ; to France, 
cotton for woolens and silks ; to the West Indies, flour 
and lumber for tropical produce ; to Mexico, manufac- 
tured goods for silver, which is sent to Russia for 
hemp, to Sweden for iron, to China for silks, teas and 
furs. The greater part of the skins sold by the Nor- 
wegians are obtained from the Hamburgh merchants, 
who buy them in London from the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany. The Norwegians carry them to Finmark, from 
whence they are taken to Moscow, and sold to the car- 
avan traders for the purpose of being bartered with 
the Chinese for tea at Keachta. Flour, iron, and pork, 
issue respectively from Baltimore, Philadelphia, and 
Cincinnati ; and an equivalency returns in shoes, hats, 
silks, ginghams, calicoes, and tumblers. 

Commodities go out in quantities, accumulate in cer- 
tain locations, and then insinuate themselves into ten 
thousand families. New York, an inlet for a commer- 
cial flood, sends the mighty tide from its centre. Masts 
surround the city like a grove, smoke hangs over the 
island, and the murmurs of a busy multitude pervade 
the streets. Flour from Chicago, cotton from Ala- 
bama, furs from Oregon, lead from Missouri, coal from 



ERGONOMY. 813 

Pennsylvania, lumber from Maine, pass through this 
mighty emporium. New Orleans, at one time, ex- 
hibits fifteen hundred flats, fifty steam-boats ; a.nd ships, 
brigs, and schooners, present their masts, which, at a 
distance, resemble large and extensive forests. At 
London, at the same time are seen three thousand four 
hundred barges and eleven hundred ships. The docks, 
occupying no less than one hundred and sixty acres, 
contain goods amounting to fifty million pounds ster- 
ling. They contain one hundred thousand casks, and 
three thousand bales of silk from Turkey, China, Per- 
sia, and Italy. Here appears a mass of ivory ; there, 
half an acre of cinnamon. 

Vegetables have been transplanted through commer- 
cial intercourse. The almond tree, a native of Bar- 
bary, is naturalized from Madrid to Canton ; and the 
orange, the lemon, the lime, and the citron, native 
fruits of India, are so common in other countries as to 
give their desserts a tropical character. Indian corn, 
a native of Mexico, was unknown to Europe before the 
discovery of America ; and the practical mind of Cob- 
bet, whose residence in America informed him of its 
advantages as food, attempted its introduction into 
England. After a long opposition, it was discovered 
to be " marvelous proper food." The queen breakfasts 
upon it, the premier pronounces it " generous food," 
and the commons no longer consider it " common or 
unclean." The potato, a native of the Andes, still 
grows wild in Chili and Peru, and has spread over the 
civilized world. 

Wheat and rye originated in Tartary and Siberia, 
where they are still indigenous ; and as the oat is found 

14 



314 E R G N M Y. 

wild only in Abyssinia, it is considered a native of that 
country. Coffee, a native of Arabia Felix, is now ex- 
tensively cultivated in both the Indies. The several 
varieties of the apple are derived from the crab-apple, 
a native in most countries ; and the peach, formerly 
used in Persia for poisoning arrows, still grows wild in 
its native land. The sugar-cane came from China ; 
and the tobacco plant is a native of Mexico, though a 
species of it has been lately discovered in New Hol- 
land. Ginger, so extensively used in cookery and 
medicine, was first known to the Arabians ; and the 
rhubarb, a native of Tartary, is common in gardens, for 
making pies. Asparagus was imported from Asia ; 
horseradish, from China ; rice, from Ethiopia ; beans, 
from the East Indies ; and garlic, from Asia and 
Africa. 

The apple and the pear, some few cherries, and the 
raspberry and strawberry, are alone indigenous to 
Europe. The names of most of the flowers, herbs, and 
fruits, which grow in European gardens, indicate a 
foreign extraction. The Romans called the apricot, 
the peach, the pomegranate, the citron, the orange, by 
the common denomination of apple, which was a native 
of Italy, and distinguished these new fruits by the 
additional epithet of the respective country from which 
each was derived. In the time of Homer, the fruit of 
the vine which grew wild in Sicily, was ungrateful to 
the savage inhabitants ; but, one thousand years after- 
wards, Italy had eighty generous wines, more than two- 
thirds of which were elaborated from her own soil. 
The vine, which derives its origin from the countries 
between Persia and India, v/as brought to Marseilles^ 



ERGONOMY. S15 

in Graul. It was communicated by the Romans to tlie 
Narbonese province, of Gaul ; but so intense was the 
cold north of the Cevennes, that naturalists, in the 
time of Strabo, supposed grapes could not ripen in 
such unfriendly regions. " This difficulty was gradu- 
ally overcome ;" " and the vineyards of Burgundy 
seem to be as old as the ao:e of the Antonines." 

The olive, a native of Syria, " followed the progress 
of peace, of which it was the symbol." Two centuries 
after the foundation of Rome, Italy and Africa were 
strangers to this plant, which was afterwards natural- 
ized and sent into Spain and Gaul. That the olive 
could only flourish with a certain degree of heat, in a 
certain proximity to the sea, was an ancient error, 
which was insensibly exploded by industry and expe- 
rience. Fruit trees were derived principally from the 
East ; the orange and citron, from Japan ; the almond 
and apricot, from Armenia ; the pomegranate, from 
Africa. One hundred and twenty families of fruit 
trees are now known to Europe. The sassafras tree, 
a native of America, was, on account of medicinal uses, 
sold for a high price on its first introduction into 
Europe. The Jerusalem artichoke was brought to 
Europe from the mountains of Brazil. The cultivation 
of flax, which was transported by the Romans from 
Egypt to Gaul, enriched the country. The artificial 
grasses, particularly lucerne, which derived its origin 
from Media, became familiar to Italy and the provinces. 
Tobacco, hops, hemp, flax, almonds, pomegranates, 
grains, and garden fruits, have been introduced into 
Australia by Europeans. 

Seventeen families of fruit trees, mostly exotic, are 



316 ERGONOMY. 

cultivated in England, and aiford about two thousand 
varieties. The walnut derived from Syria, is culti- 
vated for its fruit ; and the eleven species derived from 
America, for the ifinest timbers. Turnips, clover, and 
potatoes, were introduced into England in the seven- 
teenth century. The cultivation of the turnip, in fifty 
years, has revolutionized English husbandry. The 
leaves expose a wide surface to the atmosphere, and 
derive much of their sustenance from that source. 
The leaves shade the ground, preserve its moisture, 
and prevent, in some measure, its exhaustion. Tur- 
nips nourish animals which supply food and clothing. 

" It was not," says Hume, " till the end of the reign 
of Henry the Eighth, that any salads, turnips, or other 
edible roots, were produced in England : the little of 
these vegetables that was used, was imported from 
Holland and Flanders. Queen Catharine, when she 
wanted a salad, was obliged to dispatch a messenger 
thither on purpose." " Most of the vegetables seem 
to have been introduced into England from the south 
of Europe. The artichoke, which is perhaps the oldest, 
came from the Levant, by way of Italy." " Asparagus 
and celery came from Italy, through France, and were 
introduced about the close of the sixteenth century. 
The cauliflower was brought from Italy, where it was 
obtained from the island of Cyprus, and was imported 
into England about the close of the seventeenth cen- 
tury. The beet and the radish came at a later period, 
from France." The Flemings planted gillyflowers, 
carnations, and the Provence rose, in England. Hops 
were introduced from Artois ; currants, from Zante ; 
the tamarisk, from Germany ; woad, from Toulouse ; 



E R G N M Y. 817 

the tulip rose, from Vienna ; the musk rose and 
plums, from Italy ; garden roots and the pale goose- 
berry, from Flanders. 

Cotton, which was bestowed upon Asia and Africa, 
was not native to Europe ; and, for many centuries, its 
growth and manufacture were confined exclusively to 
India. Herodotus states that the Indians made " their 
clothes" " of a plant" which produced " wool of a finer 
and better quality than that of sheep ;" and Nearchus, 
Alexander's admiral in his Indian expedition, says that 
the Indians " wore garments" ^' of something much 
whiter than flax, growing upon trees." Cotton, accord- 
ing to Strabo, grew in the Persian province of Susiana ; 
and Pliny states that, in the earliest ages, cotton fab- 
rics were worn only by the Indians ; that the dress of 
the Babylonians " was of linen and wool." Marco 
Polo, the Venetian traveler, saw cotton growing abund- 
antly at Guzzerat, and in Mosul, opposite the ancient 
Nineveh, in Persia. Since the time of this traveler, 
cotton was manufactured in Arabia, Persia, and in all 
the provinces on the Indus. 

In the fifteenth century, cotton was extensively 
grown and manufactured by the Caffres, by the Moors 
at Cefala, by the inhabitants of Guinea, and by those 
who lived along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 
Spain first cultivated it in Europe, and manufactured 
it into clothing, in the tenth century. The Moors, at 
the conquest of Spain, brought with them the hus- 
bandry of cotton ; and the priests of San Adveno let 
their church lands for its cultivation. Soon after this, 
cotton appeared in Italy, and gradually extended to 



818 E R G N M Y. 

Greece and the adjacent countries. Cotton was grown 
in the south of France in the sixteenth century. 

The aborigines of America, according to Columbus, 
Magellan, Drake, Dampier, and Van Noort, used cot- 
ton for dress. Columbus states that the women of San 
Salvador were dressed in " cotton coats," that they ex- 
changed "cotton yarn" for toys, and that cotton was 
seen "growing of itself" The Patagonians tied up 
their hair with " cotton lace," the Brazilians used cot- 
ton for beds, and the Mexicans displayed much inge- 
nuity and neatness in manufacturing cotton fabrics. 
The earlier explorers of the Mississippi and its tribu- 
tary streams " saw cotton growing w41d" " in great 
plenty." 

A limited quantity of the short staple was grown in 
America one hundred and twenty years before the 
Revolution, and the colonists manufactured within 
their families their most necessary clothing. Jefferson 
says that their cotton fabrics " bear some comparison 
with the same kinds of manufacture in Europe." At 
the convention of Annapolis, Madison remarked to 
Tench Coxe, that the United States must "one day 
become a great cotton-producing country." To secure 
the transportation of the West India cotton, the Eng- 
lish procured a stipulation in Jay's treaty that no cot- 
ton should be imported from America ; which stipula- 
tion the United States Senate refused to ratify. An 
American vessel, which carried eight bags of cotton to 
Liverpool, was seized on the ground that so much cotton 
could not be produced in the United States. The 
States now elaborate more than two million bags, and 
machinery converts them into clothing. 



E R G N O M Y. 319 

The most useful domestic animals have been dis- 
tributed into every region which man has the ability 
to penetrate. The camel inhabiting the plains of Af- 
rica and Asia was carried, in early ages, over India, 
China, and Middle Russia. It crossed the Bosphorus 
with the Koran, and spread with the Turks over their 
present dominions in Europe. The ass, a native of 
the mountainous regions of Tartary, is celebrated in 
history for fiery activity and elegant fleetness. He 
lives in mountains where the horse feeds with difficulty 
and travels with disadvantage. lie has been intro- 
duced into South America, for carrying ores from steep 
mountains ; and into the West Indies, for carrying 
cane from scarcely accessible acclivities. He was in- 
troduced into the United States by Washington, whose 
example has had very considerable iniluence, and those 
races now accessible to Americans were obtained from 
Asia, through Arabia and Egypt. 

The sheep of Italy were once celebrated for the 
fineness of their fleeces. Spain, at a very early period, 
possessed several varieties of sheep; but the "red 
fleece " of Boetica, Uranada, and Andalusia, a variety 
"which seems to have been originally derived from 
Italy, was superior to all others in fineness. Colu- 
mella, a resident of Spain in the reign of Claudius, 
introduced many of the Tarentine variety into that 
country. The eggs of the silk-worm were brought in 
a reed from Asia into Europe, and the making of silk 
spread into Greece and Italy. The importation of 
horses into England took place from Spain, Barbary. 
Arabia, and the Levant. Australia, which possessed 



820 E R G N M Y. 

only a few inconsiderable quadrupedsj is now thickly 
peopled with horses, oxen, sheep and goats. 

A maritime situation is one of the physical causes of 
the superior civilization which distinguishes certain 
communities. From the shores of the Mediterrane- 
an, commerce and art, science and literature, passed 
through the interior of Europe to the most distant 
regions. To this sea is traceable the flourishing con- 
dition of the ancient cities on the western coast of 
Asia Minor and Syria, and those on the northern 
shores of Africa. It contributed to the arts and sci- 
ences, the literature and civilization of Greece and 
Rome, as well as gave rise to the opulence of Tyre and 
Sidon, Alexandria and Carthage. The Baltic was 
contributory to the improvement of northern Europe ; 
and both these inland seas contributed to the superi- 
ority which Europe acquired over the other grand divis- 
ions of the globe. 

The extensive and beautiful country of Barbary, 
separated from Europe by a long and narrow sea, was 
formerly the centre of an advanced civilization, and 
noted for population and industry under the Carthagi- 
nians, Romans, Vandals, and Arabians. It has a more 
easy intercourse with the coasts of Europe than those 
coasts have with their own capital cities. Transportation 
is less expensive from Marseilles and Genoa to Tunis- 
and Algiers than to Paris and Vienna, or even to Milan 
or Turin. Cato showed the Roman Senate fresh figs 
■which were gathered under the walls of Carthage ; and 
this fruit, except in a dried state, is not edible after 
three days from the time of the gathering. Next to 
Egypt, Barbary was the most fruitful Roman province. 



E R G N M Y. 321 

and was called " the soul of the republic," " the jewel 
of the empire." Opulent citizens considered the pos- 
session of palaces and country seats on this beautiful 
coast as their highest happiness. 

The arts and sciences are dilTused with commerce ; 
and a high degree of civilization is only attainable by a 
free and active intellectual intercourse among nations. 
The progress made by one nation is advantageous to 
another only by social freedom ; and nations usually 
" improve in proportion to their commercial facilities." 
The East was in possession of the arts, while the West 
was inhabited by rude barbarians. The elaborations 
of more civilized nations were gradually introduced 
into western Europe, multiplying its commodities, im- 
proving its science, and invigorating its commerce. 
Nations which formerly gazed at each other with sus- 
picion, are now almost merged into one. Misappre- 
hensions, founded on prejudice, are succeeded by friend- 
ly oiHccs and beneficial reciprocities. " Vast regions, 
not many years ago sterile and neglected, have been 
transformed, as if by some magic influence, into culti- 
vated fields and smiling landscapes." 

The Britons who lived in the inland counties were, 
according to Caesar, unclothed and savage, while those 
on the coast, from their mercantile intercourse with 
Gaul, had made some advances in civilization. The 
towns in the interior were nothing but huts on an emi- 
nence, fortified with trees laid across each other. The 
walls of the houses were plastered over with mud, and 
the roofs thatched with straw. Many of their earlier 
houses were round with conical roofs ; and the towns, 

according to Strabo, were tracts of woody country, sur- 

14+ 



322 ERGONOMY. 

rounded with a ditch. The royal palace differed only 
in size from the common dwellings. Through Roman 
art, the woods of Britain gave place to commodious and 
elegant habitations. 

Modern civilization, from its cradle in the south of 
Europe, passed into Britain. The arts, borrowed from 
the East, or reanimated after a long slumber, built up 
the cities in England. Transplanting the arts from 
Italy to Flanders, laid the foundation of its supremacy 
in industry and opulence. Among the presents of 
Haroun to Charlemagne, was a clepsydra, a contrivance 
beyond anything which had been invented in Europe. 
With the blessings of peace, a regard for science and the 
arts grew up among the rude Europeans, who collected 
the relicts of ancient literature and art into libraries 
and museums, and viewed them as their noblest acqui- 
sitions. 

The ancient Germans used vast forests for hunting- 
grounds, employed some districts in pasturage, and 
bestowed on the remainder a rude and careless culture. 
That same country which scarcely supplied a hundred 
thousand warriors with the simple necessaries of life, 
now maintains millions of husbandmen and artificers in 
ease and plenty. Russia, whose first ships were all of 
foreign construction, now ranks among the great naval 
powers. Peter the Great persuaded many able artists 
to accompany him to his dominions, and imported flocks 
and shepherds from Saxony and Silesia. The vast 
plains of Russia facilitate land carriage, and her nume- 
rous rivers render easy the transportation of commodi- 
ties with the arts and sciences. Scarcely a hill occurs 
from Petersburg to Pekin ; and many large rivers 



E R G X M Y. 323 

meander in various directions through the plains. The 
people are becoming more agricultural, a regular com- 
merce begins to avi^aken enterprise, civilization gains 
ground, and the arts and sciences are spreading their 
benign influence in some very remote provinces. 

The discovery of the new world gave an impetus to 
mental activity. Green islands and golden sands 
seemed to arise, as by enchantment, out of the watery 
waste ; and fortunate fields and flowery vales, " thrice 
happy isles," were fancied to float, " like Hesperian 
gardens famed of old," beyond Atlantic seas. The 
heart of man seemed to beat with a new and more vig- 
orous pulsation, and all the energies of the soul to be 
roused to the most darins: adventures. The arts which 
the emigrants brought to America, enabled them to 
reclaim its vast solitudes. As the sun first shines on 
the east and extends his beams to the west, so the 
fine arts which arose in the East, cast their rays west- 
ward till Europe and America became radiant with 
light. The useful arts of America are reflected upon 
Russia and Turkey. 

Canals serve as a substitute for seas and rivers, con- 
tribute to the advancement of inland navigation, and 
mark the genius of a people in science and commerce. 
It is impossible to enumerate the advantages derived 
from this communication between Hull and Liverpool, 
between the seaports and the manufacturing towns. 
The elaborations of the counties on the line of the 
canal, now flow out to satisfy human wants beyond all 
expectation. The various commodities, both of export 
and import, find an easy conveyance ; and the mer- 
chants and manufacturers of the interior enjoy the bon- 



324 BRGONOMY. 

efits of water carriage almost from their own doors to 
the principal seaports. The Severn now communicates 
not only with the Trent and the Mersey by various 
courses of navigation, but also with the Thames, by a 
canal which completes the quadruple intersection of 
the kingdom. 

Literature is improved and disseminated by foreign 
intercourse. The literature of every nation is marked 
by its own peculiar genius ; but no nation has such a 
native affluence of expression as to preclude improve- 
ment from foreign sources. As private members of 
society lay aside rude peculiarities and narrow preju- 
dices to catch brilliant thoughts and generous emotions 
from social contact, so nations, by foreign collision, 
elevate their habits of thought, acquire more effective 
modes of expression, and purge their literature from 
national imperfections. The individual, without sacri- 
ficing his originality in deference to society, avoids 
offensive eccentricities ; so the nation which combines 
its original resources with a suitable flexibility to 
foreign impressions, attains the highest literary emi- 
nence. 

The Hebrew literature, the consecrated drapery of 
divine inspiration, acquired its high elegance by unit- 
ing the peculiarity of the Hebrew with exterior im- 
pressions. To the fountain of his own native litera- 
ture, Moses applied a mind rich in " the learning of 
Egypt ;" and the union of these two magnificent streams 
resulted the Pentateuch, so deservedly admired for 
elegant diction, lovely simplicity, graphic descriptions, 
vivid narratives, touching pathos, and comprehensive 
legislative phraseology. The literature of the com- 



ERGONOMY. 325 

monwealth consists of the annals, till the charming 
history of Ruth marks the transition to a literary 
period excited by commingling with foreign intellect. 
The Psalms of David, a repository of sacred poetry, 
are as varied as the moods of religious sentiment, " as 
the tones of his own exulting or complaining harp." 
The traces of Hebrew and Egyptian intercourse are so 
visible in the literature of this period, that Champol- 
lion was impressed with the coincident expressions. 

In the time of Solomon, commerce brought the na- 
tional mind into contact with foreign literature. The 
Proverbs of Solomon are replete with practical wis- 
dom, expressed in the most appropriate language. The 
Book of Ecclesiastes, a didactic poem, is adorned with 
a profusion of beautiful imagery, introduced with a del- 
icate and scrupulous taste. The accumulating infirmi- 
ties of age are described with physiological exactness, 
blended with fine poetry and pathos. The Song of 
Solomon, a series of idyls, combines tenderness of sen- 
timent with fascinating poetic simplicity. The Egyp- 
tian princess whom he had married, is called his " sister 
bride ;" and an Egyptian inscription, "sister bride," has 
been found near the portrait of that very princess, in her 
native country. She is likened to a " sacred garden ;" 
and sacred gardens, kept by nuns, originated in Egypt. 

The diction of Isaiah and Jeremiah indicates a con- 
nection with this classic era, and that of Daniel and 
Ezekiel displays an extreme oriental spirit. The 
minor prophets fell back upon Jewish resources ; but 
the Rabbinical literature improved from foreign con- 
nections, till the Hebrew mind displayed itself in the 
Grecian language. The chapter on charity "brings 



326 ergonomy; 

to its illustration a throng of Jewish recollections 
and sacred inferences." " To the gorgeousness and 
fervor of Plato, without his vagueness and mysticism, it 
unites the strict and acute analysis of Aristotle, with- 
out his cold, material, mechanical philosophy." The 
sentiment is logically developed, and " a luxuriant 
abundance of images is crowded within the smallest 
possible compass," 

The intellect of the ancient Greeks, so spontaneous 
and original, was not without some foreign stimulus 
and assistance. Greece was surrounded by nations 
that preceded her in civilization and literary culture. 
The Phoenicians pursued an active commerce along the 
shores of the Peloponnesus ; and the Greeks ascribed 
to a Phoenician the introduction of sixteen letters of 
their alphabet. A wondrous resemblance appears be- 
tAveen the structure of the Greek and Sanscrit lan- 
guages — between many portions of the Greek and 
Indian philosophy. As a refined intercourse existed 
between the Greeks and orientals, an oriental gor- 
geousness came into contact with the compact, ener- 
getic spirit which characterized the Grecian mind. 
The perfection of Grecian literature was partly owing 
to the interchange among the difi'erent tribes. They 
borrowed from each other modes of thought and forms 
of expression, and elaborated one general literature 
from the choicest materials. 

As a consequence of the commercial activity of the 
Greeks, their language was spoken throughout all the 
coasts of the Mediterranean and Euxine seas. The 
factories which they established and the correspond- 
ence which they maintained, diffused their language 



ERGONOMY. 3^7 

throughout the then known parts of the eastern world. 
The Roman literature, for some centuries, " was like a 
savage crab-tree, growing in its own native solitude." 
This language, though brought to its highest state 
of perfection under the plastic influence of Grecian 
models, still preserves its native peculiarity. " It is 
stamped with the mark of an imperial and despotizing 
republic ; rigid in its construction, parsimonious in its 
synonyms ; reluctantly yielding to the flowery yoke of 
Horace, although opening glimpses of Greek-like splen- 
dor in the occasional inspirations of Lucretius ; proved, 
indeed, to the uttermost by Cicero, and by him found 
wanting ; yet majestic in its barrenness, impressive in 
its conciseness ; the true language of history, instinct 
■with the spirit of nations, and not with the passions of 
individuals ; breathing the maxims of the world, and 
not the tenets of the schools ; one and uniform in its 
air and spirit, whether touched by the stern and haugh- 
ty Sallust, by the open and discursive Livy, or by the 
reserved and thoughtful Tacitus." 

The mind of Arabia, which had so long slept in soli- 
tude and inaction, was lighted up by the influence of 
the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. Mahomet, the 
type of his nation, mingled this literature with the old 
traditionary thoughts and images of Arabia, and awak- 
ened its intellect to extraordinary vigor. After a few 
generations, the Arabians were attracted to Greek and 
Roman literature, and their genius took a new and 
sudden flight. They kept the torch of science burning 
during the dark ages, preserved many literary monu- 
ments from destruction, and made some achievements 
in philosophy, history, mathematics, and poetry. This 



328 ERGONOMY. 

classic language, from an uncommon prevalence of 
vowel sounds, is soft, liquid, and harmonious. As soon 
as the Arabians adopted the policy of excluding for- 
eign intercourse and attainments, their literature 
ceased to improve. 

In the resurrection of literature, Italy was the first 
harbinger of day ; and a purer style of composition and 
a more rational strain of sentiment, flowed from the 
study of the Grecian writers. Cosmo of Medicis cor- 
responded with Cairo and London, and a cargo of In- 
dian spices and Greek books were often imported in 
the same vessel. The progress of literature repaid 
the libc-ality of the Italian princes ; and the language 
of Greece, " the finest ever spoken by mortals," soon 
spread beyond the Alps. France, Germany, and Eng- 
land, imported the literary flame which had been kin- 
dled at Florence and Rome ; and the Greek authors, 
forgotten on the banks of the Ilyssus, were read on 
those of the Seine, the Elbe, and the Thames. 

Before Greece was overwhelmed wdth her libraries, 
Italy was emerging from barbarism ; and as soon as 
the seeds were scattered to the winds, the Italian soil 
was prepared for their cultivation. In the shipwreck 
of the Byzantine libraries, each fugitive seized a frag- 
ment of treasure ; and the restoration of Grecian litera- 
ture in Italy, was preceded by a series of emigrants 
who were richly endowed with language. At the revi- 
val of classic literature, the inhabitants of Europe were 
noted for rudeness and poverty. European students 
were introduced to the society of polite antiquity, to 
familiar converse with those who spoke a sublime and 
philosophic language. This literary intercourse refined 



ERGONOMY. 329 

the taste of the moderns, elevated their genius, and 
contributed to their superiority in the arts and scien- 
ces. 

Italy soon brought its language to perfection, and 
has since enjoyed no splendid literary era. England, 
which followed in the train of Italy, cultivated the 
classics, translated the Scriptures, and entered upon 
her first literary age. The national mind, after lan- 
guishing for a generation, was awakened to brilliant 
action by a copious literary influx from France. The 
literature of the next age was intensely English ; and 
then an intercourse attracted her attention to the lite- 
rary treasures of the nations of Europe, and she soon 
exhibited a splendid constellation in the literary firma- 
ment. Feeling again too much self-reliance, her lite- 
rature declined, but the genius of the nation now turned 
towards Germany, and, with her other resources, pro- 
duced her unrivalled schools of periodical literature. 

The impulse of classic literature was felt by Spain 
and Portugal. These nations, which produced Cervan- 
tes and Camoens, now vegetate in darkness. The few 
plants which peep through the fissures of their sepa- 
rating wall, manifest a corresponding vigor, and relate 
the brief story of their literature for two or three cen- 
turies. The very alphabet of Russia was the invention 
of Peter the Great, who, by his visits abroad, was aware 
of the benefits derivable from foreign civilization and 
refinement. The few specimens of her literature which 
have reached English readers, are highly creditable to 
her genius. 

The literature of France, in its earlier stages, savors 
too much of the classic oil. The revolution dispelled 



330 ERGONOMY. 

this restricted system, and France now seeks with avid- 
ity for intellectual sustenance from the other nations 
of Europe. The native vein of the French mind is 
lively, precise, penetrating, graceful. The French 
language, from the commingling of these elements, is 
one of the most refined of modern languages, and is 
much used in courts and polished society throughout 
Europe. Germany, in her devotion to classic authors, 
almost forgot her own nationality ; but the popularity 
of Luther's Translation of the Scriptures, by infusing 
a solemnity and tenderness, preserved her literature 
from insujfferable pedantry. The unbounded erudition 
of her sons has brought to light the germ of her ori- 
ginal language, refreshed it with French, English, and 
classic learning, and improved her intellectual harvests. 
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, first cultivated Latin, 
then French, then other European literature, then the 
old Icelandic and other Scandinavian treasures, "and 
the result appears to be a promising era of fresh, vigor- 
ous, and beautiful emanations." 

Population, as well as commerce, has its appropriate 
mobility. Food is comparatively cheap, manufactures 
comparatively dear, in locations remote from cities. 
An artificer in the country, as the expense of trans- 
portation intervenes, can sell his commodities at a 
higher price than the one with whom he competes in 
the city. The merchandise used by the country arti- 
ficer is higher, and as soon as agricultural commodities 
become so much higher in the city as to overcome the 
other advantages, artificers find it more profitable to 
locate in the country. Artificers and merchants follow 
agriculturists, who supply the whole with food ; and 



E R G N M Y. 331 

various inducements, both of taste and profit, deter- 
mine population to certain locations. One delights to 
keep in advance of civilization ; another, to linger in 
the fashionable metropolis. 

" The population of the basin of the Mississippi," says 
Allison, " has increased thirty fold in the last forty 
years." " This increase" " is mainly owing to the prodi- 
gious horde of emigrants from the European States and 
the older settled maritime" States " of America." "Not 
less than three hundred thousand persons, almost all 
in the prime of life, now yearly cross the Alleghany 
mountains, and settle on the banks of the Ohio or its 
tributary streams, and behind them another wave of 
more wealthy and refined settlers appear, who complete 
the work of agricultural advancement." " The Ohio 
and the Mississippi and the numerous tributary streams 
which swell their waters, are covered with steamboats. 
About two hundred and thirty annually ply upon the 
Mississippi alone ; upwards of five hundred are em- 
ployed on the rivers, which convey the vast stream of 
emigration to the western" parts "of the Union." 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE FIXALITIES. 



As every variety of industry is employed upon mat- 
ter, every pursuit has a particular location. Each elab- 
orator has his distinct plantation, manufactory, or depot, 
a particular location which another cannot occupy at 
the same time. The locality of industry is a compre- 
hensive induction which applies to every pursuit, and 
as locations are various in elaborative efficiency, the 
several elaborators possess very unequal facilities. 
Equal labor, expended upon different plantations, affords 
unequal revenues ; the proprietor of one mill, with the 
same expenditure, receives a greater revenue than for 
one less favorably situated, and a house in Broadway 
affords a revenue superior to one costing the same for 
erection in the Bowery. As some agriculturists hare 
superior lands, some manufacturers superior facili- 
ties, some merchants superior depots, the advantage 
of location is expressible in a single induction, and de- 
nominated fixality. 

As location is necessary in every employment, fixal- 
ity appertains to every pursuit. The lowest profits of 
agriculture are equal to the lowest profits of the other 
departments of industry ; and all those locations which 



ERGONOMY. 333 

afford only the lowest profits, leave nothing for fixality. 
The best locations, after affording the ordinary profits, 
leave the largest surplusages ; and the space between 
the highest and the lowest fixalities, is filled up with 
the various gradations. As long as a resort is contin- 
uously made to inferior instrumentalities, fixality con- 
tinues to rise ; as long as industry is continuously flow- 
ing from inferior locations, fixality continues to fall. 
As the line of demarcation between local and ordinary 
profits is distinctly drawn in nature, philosophic neces- 
sity compels us to use a distinctive terminology. 

Fixality, which is so clearly marked out by nature, 
expresses that surplusage which arises from superior 
locations. The philosophic distinction of this part of 
revenue is a luminous principle in the Industrial Sci- 
ence. Fixality is a mathematical term, and guides the 
inquirer with as much certainty as other mathematical 
terms. The proprietor of a manufactory or warehouse, 
not only receives an annual revenue for the expense of 
its erection, but also for the advantages of the ground 
on which it stands. The fixality often constitutes more 
than two-thirds of the annual revenue which is received 
for a plantation, manufactory, or depot. Annual reve- 
nue includes the whole sum paid for the use of loca- 
tions with their several appendages, while fixality, with 
unerring certainty, marks the distinctive part of the 
revenue which is derived from location alone. 

Fixality is inseparable from location, and passive to 
surrounding circumstances. As its variations are 
beyond the control of the proprietor, its operations are 
clearly conservative. As it changes its proprietors 
without losing its fixed locality, it cannot go in pursuit 



334 ERGONOMY. 

of more prosperous adventures. A proprietor can 
neither augment nor withdraw fixality, but only trans- 
fer it to another proprietor, who can only use it where 
circumstances have given it a locality. The level of 
commerce is formed upon the tops of fixalities, like the 
level of water upon the prominency of the equatorial 
regions. The figure of the earth which is assumed by 
its rotary motion, determines its fluid level ; so the 
commercial figure which runs through the tops of the 
several fixalities, determines the commercial level. 
Fixalities, unlike other commodities, cannot be loosened 
from locations ; and when they begin to decline, pro- 
prietors cannot throw them into other adventures, or 
cause a disturbance in the industrial vibrations. 

As proprietors absorb the fixality, elaborators com- 
pete with perfect equality. Fixality acts as a safety- 
valve for the escape of excessive profits, as a fluxion 
which keeps the system at an even temperature. The 
motion of the planets results from universal gravita- 
tion ; so the motion of commodities results from univer- 
sal competition. Commodities flow over fixalities with 
the completest harmony. Should the earth cease to 
turn on its axis, the sea would flow to the sources of 
the Mississippi ; so, should the proprietors remit their 
fixalities, human pursuits would rush into the wildest 
disorder. Some elaborators, in the transition state, 
would receive sudden advantages ; those adventurers 
who should fall upon superior locations, would, with 
ordinary expenditures, make enormous profits ; and 
every department of industry, as fixalities are so vari- 
ous in intensity, would sufi'er simultaneous derange- 
ment. As the earth is not liable to ston its diurnal 



" E R G N M Y. 335 

revolutions, so the human mind is so suited to nature 
that proprietors are not liable to convulse society with 
injudicious generosity. 

Locations gradually acquire superiority by successive 
accretions. The same expenditure upon different loca- 
tions was, at the first appropriation, deemed to afford 
equal revenue ; but, from a change of circumstances, 
these locations have succeeded to ver}^ unequal advan- 
tages. The comparison of locations, a fluxionary quan- 
tity, is made at the same period ; and as the capitalist 
who purchases a location, pays its present equivalency, 
his income, which is derived from a large fixality, is, to 
him, after paying for the fixality, only the ordinary 
profits. As locations are affected by population and 
improvements, proprietors experience corresponding 
affections in their respective revenues. The present 
location of a splendid edifice in Philadelphia, was once 
assigned to the chain-bearer for laying out the city ; 
and the present immense fixality of the location, has 
gradually risen up with the successive proprietors 
through surrounding improvements. Those who pur- 
chase locations for future profit, part with a present 
advantage ; and, besides the liability of final loss, they 
locate capital which might accumulate as fast in other 
pursuits. 

The richness of soils has numerous gradations, and 
as soon as a country begins to improve, some agricul- 
turists are found nearer to market. Variations, from 
both these sources, appear in the profits of agricultural 
locations. Superiority of fertility and proximity of 
market, render agricultural industry more efficient, and 
give some landed proprietors a decided advantage. 



336 ERGONOMY. 

Remoteness of market is often compensated by superi- 
ority of fertility ; but when proximity of market coin- 
cides with superiority of fertility, the augmentation 
of profits proceeds in a duplicate proportion. As pop- 
ulation increases in a particular district, a correspond- 
ing demand arises for agricultural commodities ; and 
as soon as such commodities rise above the medium 
rate, industry flows into the agricultural channel. As 
agricultural commodities now afford the ordinary pro- 
fits to a less advantageous culture, inferior soils and 
remoter lands are brought into profitable tillage. This 
necessary resort to inferior instruments, satisfies the 
pressing demand for food, and checks the comparative 
advantages of agricultural pursuits. As long as agri- 
cultural profits keep in advance, lands less fertile and 
more remote are brought under profitable tillage ; and 
the resort to inferior instruments only proceeds till the 
average profits sink a little below the common me- 
dium. 

The profits of agriculture find the common level ; 
and the boundary of cultivation, like the snow line on 
the Alps, has its vibrations and equilibrium. As the 
expulsive force ceases before the most sterile lands 
come into cultivation, much land in populous districts 
is always without culture. Gravitation attracts the 
atmospheric atoms towards the earth, repulsion drives 
them towards the upper regions ; so a demand for food 
attracts industry to inferior lands, unprofitableness of 
culture drives it back towards its former boundary. 
Gravitation and repulsion, at a certain distance from 
the earth, form an equilibrium with a vacancy beyond ; 
so the pressure for food and the sterility of soils, the 



ERGONOMY. 337 

attractive and repulsive forces, form an equilibrium 
which leaves much land without cultivation. Before 
cultivation reaches the most sterile soils, the profits 
of other pursuits arrest its progress ; and as land 
always remains for the play of agricultural industry, 
agriculture is never permanently more profitable than 
other pursuits. 

A stronger demand for metals so increases the price 
as to attract industry to inferior mines. The discovery 
of richer mines sometimes causes inferior ones, such 
as will not afi'ord ordinary profits, to cease from at- 
tracting human industry. The apening of the Ameri- 
can mines closed some European mines which had 
been worked from the time of the Romans ; and some 
of the American mines, which were first discovered, are 
now superseded by the richer ones since brought to 
light. The proprietor of the most sterile mines in 
operation, receives no more than the return of his 
expenditure with the ordinary profits ; while, on the 
contrary, the richest mines, like the most fertile soils, 
afi'ord, besides replacing the expenditure of mining, 
more than the ordinary profits as a fixality. The 
forests of Norway, the downs of Wiltshire, the mines 
of Potosi, afi'ord more than the ordinary profits to the 
landed proprietors. The competition with other pur- 
suits leaves the forces of industry ample room to 
vibrate. 

Some manufacturing locations have intense advan- 
tages. Those mills which possess superior power and 
proximity to market, afi'ord large profits ; and this 
advantage is progressive as long as the demand for 
manufactures is so urgent as to bring into requisition 

15 



338 ERGONOMY. 

less efficient mills, which, under a comparative disadvan- 
tage, yield as good profits as other employments. As 
soon as the profits of manufactures are found to exceed 
those of other pursuits, the augmentation of price 
elicits fresh competition ; and as soon as the profits are 
so far advanced as to admit operations with inferior 
instrumentalities, manufacturers resort to more expen- 
sive propelling powers. The attraction to inferior 
locations proceeds till prices sink below the common 
level, when manufacturers abandon inferior instru- 
ments. Variety of locations causes variety of intensi- 
ties in fixalities, and the vibrations keep the system 
in a salutary equipoise. 

Depots which are near to market, have an advantage 
over those which are more remote. As soon as com- 
mercial pursuits become so profitable as to occupy 
remoter depots, commerce is attracted from the centre 
towards less favorable locations. The attractive and 
repulsive powers of mercantile industry, alternately 
bring into requisition the less profitable depots, and 
abandon them for more profitable establishments. 
Mercantile pursuits, which possess inconsiderable fric- 
tion, soon take that direction which industry seems 
to require. Some locations have very large fixalities ; 
and as mercantile locations are alternately appropria- 
ted and abandoned, play is left for the vibratory mo- 
tions and the salutary equilibrium. 

The elasticity of competition tends to equalize profits 
in the several pursuits ; and as the profits are continu- 
ally seeking repose, the vibrations never lose their 
final recovery. The pressure of each variety of indus- 
try upon inferior instrumentalities, ceases before all 



ERGONOMY. 339 

the soils, all the mill seats, all the mercantile locations, 
are brought into requisition; and population, which 
creates the demand for every variety of commodities, 
arrives at its maximum before it presses agriculture, 
manufactures, and commerce, to the utmost extremity. 
Materials continually remain for the reception of 
human industry ; and as play remains for vibrations 
in every variety, the average profits above fixalities 
can never have a permanent advantage in any pursuit. 
The population of England, which has doubled in eighty 
years, still leaves much uncultivated land ready for 
more pressing emergencies. Fix:ality so increases with 
profits that no location has any natural monopoly. 

Fixality is a fluxionary quantity, which suits itself 
to Industrial vicissitudes. The proprietor of every 
location, except the most unprofitable, has a fixality 
which fluctuates according to circumstances. Fixation 
to a particular spot constitutes its only peculiarity ; 
and it continually fluctuates in equivalency while it 
remains fixed in locality. It fluctuates independently 
of ordinary profits ; sometimes coinciding with, some- 
times diverging from, the ordinary vibrations. It 
fluctuates while ordinary profits continue stationary; 
it sometimes remains stationary while ordinary profits 
continue to fluctuate. These vibrations will become 
more impressive by the introduction of a few illustra- 
tive examples. 

A manufactory creates a demand for provisions, and 
augments the advantages in agricultural locations. As 
agricultural commodities must be elaborated upon in- 
ferior and remoter soils, the manufactory, by increas- 
ing the disparity of cultivated soils and increasing the 



840 ERGONOMY. 

disparity of distance to market, confers a duplicate 
benefit upon some landed proprietors. A road which 
makes a distant market accessible, facilitates an estab- 
lished manufactory ; and the perishable commodities 
which now find a nearer consumption, have an efi'ect 
upon agricultural as well as upon manufactural loca- 
tions. The price of lands, for all Industrial purposes, 
augments as a country fills up with inhabitants ; and 
the first settlers often acquire splendid fortunes to 
transmit to their immediate descendants. The price 
of the location of Chicago swelled to millions in a few 
years ; and lands in the vicinity of Lancaster sell for 
three hundred dollars per acre, the facility to market 
entering into the price. 

The population which clusters around manufactories, 
increases the demand for certain commodities, and 
gives some manufacturers augmented advantages. The 
settlement of every country produces the prices of loca- 
tions in endless variety. Herodotus states that, in his 
time, India was filled with a numerous population, and 
crowded with large cities, costly palaces, and magnifi- 
cent temples. The division of labor had taken place, 
and merchants had acquired a respectable rank in 
society. England, for eight hundred years, has been 
sending out numerous branches from her enormous 
trunk to form new centres. A spot, once the haunt 
of the " wild boar of the Ardennes," is now covered 
with mills and factories, which send up the curling 
smoke from the once romantic scenery, and gladden 
the once sylvan solitudes with active industry. Manu- 
factures cluster in cities or villages which enjoy supe- 



ERGONOMY. 341 

rior advantages ; such as Manchester, Sheffield, Provi- 
dence, Pittsburg, and Lowell. 

Cities favorable for commerce soon acquire splendid 
advantages from location. Tacitus speaks of London 
as " famous for its many merchants, for the greatness 
of its merchandise." Long before the time of Constan- 
tine, the commerce of the empire flowed into its market ; 
and Bede calls it " a mart town of many nations, which 
repaired thither by sea and by land." Its fleet some- 
times amounted to five hundred sail, and included every 
nation in its commerce. Clifl'ord, in the time of Edward 
the Confessor, says that Bristol was " a famous town, 
its haven being a commodious receptacle for all ships 
coming thither from Ireland, Norway, and other foreign 
countries." Liverpool has rapidly increased from the 
cotton trade. Less than two hundred years ago, fish&s 
had undisturbed possession of the basin of Baltimore, 
and ducks congregated in its shallow waters. Many 
recollect when the spot which is now the most beautiful 
part of the city, was a play ground for adventurous 
children, a fine location for shooting snipes. The city 
is now estimated at more than sixty millions of dollars, 
and connected by commerce with nearly the whole world. 
New Orleans, notwithstanding its unhealthy climate, 
has grown into a, large city. 

The price of all the locations mentioned in the preced- 
ing examples, has been continually augmenting ; where- 
as, at the same time, the price of the commodities elab- 
orated on the same locations, has been sometimes on the 
ascending, sometimes on the descending scale. The 
prices of agricultural commodities and the locations 
advance together, though at very difi'erent rates. As 



342 ERGONOMY. 

the site of a manufactory is rising in price, the price 
of the elaborated commodities is falling ; and while the 
lot on which a store stands accumulates to ten thou- 
sand dollars, the merchandise sold in the same store is 
diminishing in price. That the price of locations is 
liable to diminution and extinction, is exemplified in 
many melancholy examples. 

The flocks of the Arab now procure a scanty subsist- 
ence among the vestiges of former agriculture. The 
banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, once so fertile, are 
covered with impenetrable brushwood ; and the interior 
of the country, once fertilized by canals, is now desti- 
tute of vegetation and inhabitants. In Palestine, where 
once " every spot on which soil could rest or vine could 
cling was in cultivation," now large tracts are left 
waste. The plain of Esdrelon, once exuberantly rich 
and fertile, has a prolific growth of wild flowers, with 
here and there only a spot under cultivation. The 
plain of Sharon, once filled with people, lies almost as 
useless as the desert of Arabia. Sardinia is cultivated 
only in spots ; and Sicily, once the granary of the 
Roman empire, pays annually one million pounds for 
imported grain. A portion of the south of Italy, with 
a luxuriant soil, is now uncultivated ; and around 
Rome, sometimes not a cottage or a cultivated spot 
appears for miles. 

Drifting sands, in some locations, proceed with 
frightful rapidity, overwhelming forests, houses, and 
cultivated fields. They have actually buried, on the 
coast of Biscay, a considerable number of villages, 
whose existence is noticed in the records of the middle 
ages J andj at the present time, they are threatening 



ERGONOMY. 343 

no less than ten distinct hamlets with inevitable de- 
struction. The sands of the desert are encroaching 
upon Egypt, and sand-floods and storms have occurred 
in Lower Egypt and along the Libyan desert. Denon, 
a French traveler, had the melancholy opportunity " to 
walk over villages swallowed up by the desert, to 
trample under foot the roofs of their houses, to strike 
against the tops of their minarets." " Cultivated fields," 
" groves of flourishing trees," and " the dwellings of 
men," have vanished from human sight and uses. The 
eastern coasts of England are constantly suffering from 
the inroads of the sea. The old maps of Yorkshire 
mark many spots which are now sand-banks in the 
ocean ; portions of Norfolk and Sufi"olk are annually 
swallowed up by the waters ; and the site of the 
ancient Cromar now forms a part of the bed of the 
German ocean. 

The Moors found a portion of Spain " fruitful in corn 
and pleasant fruit, and glutted with herds and flocks ;" 
and, after their expulsion, " the sixteen thousand looms 
of Seville dwindled down to sixty, and the woolen 
manufacture almost ceased to have existence throughout 
Spain." Arabia, which once shed a splendid light on 
the rest of the world, is now sunk in darkness. Those 
vast regions over which Islamism ruled or is ruling, 
are dead to the sciences. Those rich fields of Fez and 
Morocco, made illustrious through five centuries by so 
many academies, so many universities, so many libra- 
ries, are now nothing more than deserts. The smiling 
and fruitful coasts of Mauritania, where agriculture, 
arts, and commerce, were raised to the highest pros- 
perity, became retreats for pirates. Bagdad, formerly 



844 EKGONOMY. 

the seat of elegance and knowledge, is in ruins. The 
famous universities of Cafa and Bassora are closed, 
and the immense literary wealth of the Arabians 
exists in monasteries and European libraries. 

The great marts of Asia have gone down ; and they 
afford ground for the melancholy admonition of the 
poet, that 

" Trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay." 

Tyre, which was " replenished and made very glorious 
in the midst of the sea," is " broken by the seas in the 
depths of the waters." Palmyra, once the grand empo- 
rium of the Indian trade, lies in ruins, and no longer 
disperses rich commodities into Europe and Africa. In 
Clairac's time, the bright vision had vanished from the 
former capital of Gothland, and the city, with its trade 
and riches, was destroyed, leaving nothing but heaps 
of ruins, the sad evidence of its former splendor and 
magnificence. 

The price of locations, in these mournful instances, 
suffered a final extinction, and, on many of these loca- 
tions, the price of movables was increasing as the 
immovables were verging towards extinction. 

There is a great cycle in human affairs ; and the 
site on which man locates his industry, is continually 
altering its exchangeable relations, according to ever- 
varying vicissitudes. Time, which levels man's proud- 
est works, allows other works to spring up in fresher 
bloom. Cities now stand where the savage Indian 
lately held his council of war, where the axe of civilized 
man lately broke in upon the everlasting silence. "In 
America all is young, vigorous, and growing — the spring 
of a people frugal, active, and simple : in Italy all is 



ERGONOMY. 345 

old, infirm, and decaying — the autumn of a people who 
have gathered their glory, and are sinking into sleep, 
under the disgraceful excesses of the vintage." 

Large tracts of coast are forming and encroaching 
upon the ocean, as along the Baltic and coast of Italy. 
Rivers, after precipitating soil and alkalies, take a dif- 
ferent course and fertilize vast districts. The Missis- 
sippi sometimes retrogrades from its general direction ; 
and the fertile valley of the Connecticut has heen 
improved by alluvial deposits. The Po is making 
changes in the agricultural locations in Italy. On the 
Mississippi, for two hundred mile's, neatly-built houses, 
on finely cultivated plantations, extend like a continu- 
ous village. The savage haunt is now changed into the 
smiling village or busy city. Orange groves, figs, 
peaches, and pomegranates, have taken the place of the 
savage jungle and the almost impenetrable swamp. 

Central America "has gone down into oblivion," and 
"untold ages have passed on in gloomy silence over 
adamantine relics." " The flourishing countries on the 
banks of the Euphrates and Indus are now converted 
into deserts, where the ruins of what were once royal 
cities are the only records of their former magnifi- 
cence." Thebes, the city of a hundred gates, extended 
across the valley of the Nile, its extremities resting 
upon the bases of the opposite mountains. The area 
is covered with the ruins of immense temples, sumptu- 
ous palaces, magnificent gateways, massive obelisks, 
and colossal sphinxes. The cormorant sits solitary 
upon the spot where the conqueror of Egypt once sat 
upon a magnificent throne. Noph, Zoan, and On, once 
flourishing cities of Egypt, have scarcely left a trace 

15* 



846 E R G N M Y. 

of their existence. Balbec, once the seat of luxury and 
magnificence, is reduced to a collection of miserable 
huts, inhabited by about a thousand half-savage Arabs. 
Csesarea, within the space of twelve years after its 
foundation, " became the most celebrated and flourish- 
ing city of all Syria ;" but its theatres, once resound- 
ing with the shouts of multitudes, echo no other sounds 
than the nightly cries of animals roaming for their 
prey. The Goth trod with mockery over the tombs of 
the Scipios ; and the turbaned Arab erected his tent 
over the fallen palaces of Numantia. 

Chaos covers the once bright spots "where the 
cheering light of liberty" rose in splendor ; where the 
arts unfolded themselves in every form of beauty and 
grandeur ; where literature loved to linger in academic 
groves." Athens is a spot of glorious recollections, 
where " learning slumbers in her marble grave." The 
proud monuments of sculptors and architects stand, 
like spirits in snowy robes, upon the Acropolis ; and 
below, pictured walls and ruined monuments stand 
among a few scattered hovels. The dog howls upon 
the Pnyx of Demosthenes, the owl hoots from the 
broken portico of the Parthenon, and the grasshopper 
chants vespers at the shrine of the Areopagus. 

Commerce has declined in Alexandria and Genoa, in 
Amsterdam and Florence, and ceased in Balbec and 
Palmyra, in Nineveh and Babylon. Venice, the state- 
ly queen of the Adriatic, has experienced many vicis- 
situdes. The people, who fled by night from the be- 
sieged Aquilea, settled a cluster of little islands and flats 
where land disputed with water for empire, and raised 
a city which became ennobled by taste and enriched by 



E R G N M Y. 347 

commerce. The city afterwards declined, and seemed 
like an emporium anchored in the sea. Within a few 
years past, she has rallied in commercial prosperity. 
" More vessels appear in port, throwing up their spars 
in curving lateen yards against the elegant tower of 
the custom house, or the picturesque palaces and 
domes." " A whole fleet of galleys is seen in the hazy 
distance," not returning, as in former times, from the 
combats of Cyprus or Candia, but from reclaiming land 
from the sea. 

The price of locations has sometimes long and gen- 
tle, sometimes sudden and violent vibrations. A few 
examples, exhibiting the slowness or rapidity of tbe 
price of immovables, will further familiarize the mind 
with their ever-shifting relations. 

Civilization was progressive in India till the Euro- 
peans seized upon the country. The natives, formed 
by nature in a delicate mould of feminine softness, fled 
from foreign aggressions, and the price of immovable 
commodities tended rapidly in some places to decay. 
New England, which now exhibits cultivated farms, 
comfortable abodes, and clustering spires, was a few 
centuries ago a howling wilderness. That part of New 
York beyond Utica, a tract settled within thirty-seven 
years, contains more than three hundred flourishing 
towns and villages, adorned with churches of Grecian 
architecture, and a population of more than six hun- 
dred thousand persons. The cultivation of coffee on 
the plains of San Jose, increased, in seven years, from 
five hundred to ninety thousand quintals. 

Adventurers found refuge and security behind the 
keys and reefs which protect the harbor of Balize. The 



348 ERGONOMY. 

town soon increased to six thousand inhabitants, two- 
thirds of whom were employed as mahogany cutters. 
As the trees are nearly all cut down, the town is lan- 
guishing. In Italy, though in general decay, countless 
villas, whose graceful columns adorn the embowered 
banks of Como and the adjacent lakes, have converted 
a picturesque territory into a modern Arcadia. A 
sequestered situation in America, several miles from 
any great route, in a sterile soil, became, from the 
manufacture of gloves, a happy, opulent, and respect- 
able village. Ummerapoora, in seventeen years after its 
foundation, contained one hundred and seventy-five 
thousand inhabitants ; and, in ten years more, it 
decreased to nearly half that number. The increase of 
population has been so rapid in the United States, that 
" Cincinnati, Louisville, and other towns on the Ohio and 
Mississippi, have," in the last forty years, " multiplied 
above a hundred-fold, and in fact, from obscure ham- 
lets into splendid capitals." Cincinnati, in forty-one 
years, increased from seven hundred and fifty to more 
than forty-six thousand inhabitants. 

The logic of the muse respecting the " swift decay" 
of trade, is entirely refuted by the stability of com- 
mercial power in many illustrious examples. Trade, 
like the advance of the moon's motions, has vibrated 
towards London ever since its first commercial history. 
Trade was so gently diverted from Seleucia, Persepolis, 
and Antioch, as insensibly to take another direction ; 
while, on the contrary, it was, through sudden desola 
tions, so suddenly cut off from Tyre, Carthage, and 
Palmyra, as to occasion commercial convulsions. Alex 
andria, in her days of prosperity, exhibited a pleasing 



EBGONOMY. 349 

scene of industrial activity. " The spacious and mag 
nificent district of Bruchion, with its palaces and 
musuem, the residence of the kings and philosophers 
of Egypt, are described above a century afterwards, as 
already reduced to its present state of dreary soli- 
tude." 

The advantage of location tends to give population 
a fixed residence, and to propel the surplus to new 
adventures. Population spreads with the resort to 
remoter lands, and enough remains to enjoy the accu- 
mulative fixalities. The elasticity of population, by 
forcing industry to less efficient intruments, propels 
laborers from the populous centres successively to 
opposite shores, to navigable streams, to mountainous 
regions. Population, as well as other fluxions, has its 
vibrations and equilibrium. As it attains its maximum 
while lands still remain without culture, play is left 
for pressing emergencies. 

Other causes than a want of food, check population ; 
for many families, affluent for many generations, have 
a very limited progeny. No Montmorency has ever 
suffered for food, and yet a family which is traceable 
back for many centuries, did not, a few years ago, 
amount to more than eighty-three persons. The 
population of Tahiti decreased during its transition 
from barbarism to civilization, and seems to have been 
stationary for the last thirty years. In the rapid 
progress to civilization in the Sandwich Islands, the 
population, as in other groups, decreased before the 
march of intellectual improvement. In the Hanapepe 
valley, in Kanai, the population has rapidly decreased. 
The register of births to deaths has been one to three 



350 ERGONOMY. 

for several years past ; and this decrease is without 
any apparent cause. The valley is the most fertile 
district of the island ; the climate is salubrious ; the 
people are temperate ; and no known instances of 
infanticide have occurred for eleven years. The peo- 
ple of Oahu are intellectually improving ; and, without 
any epidemic or prevailing disease, the population is 
constantly diminishing. The Samaritans are reduced 
to about one hundred and fifty persons. One of them 
is in very affluent circumstances, and the others are 
not remarkable for either wealth or poverty. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE MAXIMUM. 



Industrial quantities, like other fluxions, flow into 
maximums. Limited industry, left in perfect freedom 
of motion, flows to the greatest possible advantage in 
supplying wants. A limited surface, formed into a 
perfect sphere, aff'ords the greatest capacity ; and the 
simplicity of this example renders it peculiarly suit- 
able for illustrating Industrial maximums. Any pres- 
sure which destroys sphericity, lessens capacity ; so 
any force upon the channels of industry, lessens human 
elaborations. Each contributor to the whole mass of 
commodities, by consulting his own genius, by pursuing 
a particular employment, by working upon those ma- 
terials which yield the highest profits, causes his 
industry to elaborate a maximum to the whole com- 
munity. 

The Deity, leaving no room for human emendations, 
has, in the several departments, manifested the strict- 
est economy. Straws, reeds, and grasses, are made 
hollow so as to possess the requisite strength with the 
least possible material. " The sum of the active forces 
of any system of bodies, during the time it employs m 
passing from one position to another, is a maximum.'' 



352 ERGONOMY. 

"If," says Mosely, "I am to project a stone up the 
hill, or obliquely across it, or suffer it to roll down it, 
■whatever obstacles opposed its motion, whether they 
arose from friction, resistance, or any other cause, con- 
stant or casual, still would the stone, when left to 
itself, pursue that path in which there was the least 
possible expenditure of its efforts ; and if its path were 
fixed, then would its efforts be the least possible in that 
path. This extraordinary principle is called that of 
least action ; its existence and universal prevalence 
admit of complete mathematical demonstration. Every 
particle of dust blown about in the air, every particle 
of that air itself, has its motions subjected to this 
principle. Every ray of light that passes from one 
medium into another, deflects from its rectilinear 
course, that it may choose for itself the path of 
least possible action ; and for a similar reason, in 
passing through the atmosphere, it bends itself in a 
particular curve down to the eye. The mighty planets, 
too, that make their circuits ever within those realms 
of space which we call our system ; the comets, whose 
path is beyond it ; all these are alike made to move so 
as best to economize the forces developed in their pro- 
gress." Human labor, in like manner, takes that 
direction which best economizes the efforts of the 
human muscles and nerves. 

The Industrial maximum, in accordance with other 
legislation, is radiant with wisdom and benevolence. 
The Divine legislation, besides assigning to each family 
the fruits of its united industry, diffuses the greatest 
possible amount of commodities over universal society 
The Deity, after making labor a salutary necessity, 



ERGONOMY. 353 

turns the whole world into a common mart, that human 
labor should have the greatest possible efficiency, that 
the social affections should have the greatest possible 
enlargement. The very fact of exchange shows a 
mutual advantage and a mutual dependency ; and per- 
fect freedom in all employments and relations, secures 
maximums in all elaborations. The greater the dis- 
parity in location or genius, the greater are the ad- 
vantages in commerce and social union. Many 
commodities are unattainable except from particular 
locations ; and, by operating *in particular pursuits, 
civilization is adorned with its refined comforts, elegant 
arts, and exalted literature. 

The Industrial maximum is so clearly revealed, that 
human restrictions are manifest violations of Divine 
arrangements, that transgressions are positive infrac- 
tions, not sins committed in ignorance. In other sys- 
tems, maximums are difficult to discover, and remain 
long in the profoundest obscurity. To inscribe the 
greatest parallelogram in a parabola — the greatest 
cylinder in a paraboloid, — to determine the angle 
which gives the fanes of a windmill the greatest 
efficiency — the divergency of the toes to secure the 
firmest standing, — are problems involved in the physical 
sciences. Such maximums are difficult determinations, 
and their infraction, after the true principle is known, 
is only a private consideration ; but the Industrial 
maximum, on the contrary, is self-determinate, and its 
infraction is a positive and gratuitous injury to society. 
Nature is continually striving after this maximum, and 
can only be counteracted by actual violence. If a family 
labors unskilfully, human restriction only causes that 



354 ERGONOMY. 

labor to bring a less reward ; and, in all cases, restric- 
tion leaves the family means the same, and makes the 
family supplies less abundant. 

This maximum is enforced with the tenderest sanc- 
tions. A government cannot interfere with commerce 
without injuring its own citizens, without forbidding 
them to receive a maximum for their elaborative toils. 
Kestriction by any country is alwa3^s suicidal ; and its 
whole tendency " is to isolate country from country, 
state from state, neighborhood from neighborhood, and 
family from family, with diminished means and increas- 
ing poverty as the circle contracts." " The principle 
of retributive justice is so deeply seated" in the In- 
dustrial world, as to recoil upon the country which 
violates the Divine institutions ; for commerce, like 
hidden streams of water, if turned from its natural 
channel, often ceases to flow in upon the offending com 
munity. The law is enforced with such awful sanctions, 
that the country which restricts foreign elaborations 
is the principle sufferer. To restrict foreign food, is, 
in effect, to shut off blood from human veins ; to restrict 
foreign clothing, is, in effect, to let off warmth from 
human nerves. The restriction of necessaries can be 
accomplished only by the crudest inhumanity and the 
grossest impiety. 

The coal-pits are as beneficial to England as the 
silver mines are to Peru. The coal which was discov- 
ered in the fifteenth century, has been the principal 
source of opulence to Newcastle ; and the lead mines 
of England support a population which could not sub- 
sist on the district by agricultural pursuits. The 
Phoenicians, six centuries before Christ, introduced 



ERGONOMY. 355 

Cornish tin among the Asiatic nations ; and fuUer'si 
earth, from its manufactural uses, supports many arti- 
sans, promotes the opulence of England, and gives 
activity to commerce. The county of Cornwall, from 
its soil and climate, has no local attractions. A chain 
of rugged hills, intermixed with black moors, pervades 
the whole interior, and exhibits, like most mineral 
districts, an appearance of dreary desolation. The 
tin, copper, and lead, which are found in this country, 
support a population of sixty thousand, exclusive of 
artificers. These minerals must be elaborated in the 
locations in which they are cast by nature ; and to 
restrict intercourse between mineral and agricultural 
districts, is death to the one and serious injury to the 
other. Freedom of intercourse promotes the advantage 
of the whole, to the greatest possible extent. 

A farmer distributes his respective seeds upon that 
soil which seems to possess the greatest adaptedness. 
If one field is suitable for rice, another for corn, a 
maximum is only attainable by an appropriation of 
each plant to its appropriate location. The same 
maximum obtains when these fields belong to different 
proprietors ; for if the one plants all rice, the other all 
corn, a greater amount is obtained than if each elabo- 
rated a plant upon an inappropriate soil. By a mutual 
exchange, each proprietor obtains the greatest possible 
amount ; and the same maximum obtains when the 
fields are in different nations, or in different continents. 
The same principle applies to every agricultural com- 
modity ; and any restriction to the introduction or 
exportation of food, forces plants to uncongenial soils, 
and is, as far as that restriction extends, dooming the 



356 EEGONOMY. 

earth to so much sterility — is subtracting so much from 
human sustenance. 

Some of the French territory is adapted to grain, 
some to pasturage, some to flax, some to the silk culture. 
Arid hills produce the vine ; mountainous districts, 
little else than wood. The smallest local peculiarity 
is turned to Industrial advantage. A rugged moun- 
tain affords metals for the farmers on the plain ; a dis- 
trict of rocks sends millstones to all the provinces ; a 
small spot of sand yields madder for all the dyers ; 
and a clay field furnishes earth for all the potteries. 
The inhabitants of the coast send into the interior fish, 
salt, alkalies, gums, and marine plants. The fertile 
plain supports a larger population from the facilities 
received from the other districts, besides the embellish- 
ments and amenities arising from social intercourse. 
The hills abound in plenty, and the rugged mountains 
teem, with human life, imbued with urbanity, afiability, 
and mildness. After supplying the native inhabitants 
with necessaries, many native plants furnish the world 
with useful, medicinal, and ornamental commodities. 

A perfect freedom in the transmission of lands, as 
well as of other commodities, satifies wants to the 
greatest possible extent. Restriction to the sale of 
lands is a loss both to the holder and to the offerer ; 
for, as the one ofi"ers that which the other accepts, the 
free exchange gratifies both to the greatest possible 
degree. The landed proprietor, in a free country, 
must labor to advantage, or his land soon passes to 
another cultivator. In some sections of Pennsylvania, 
the lands were so badly tilled that the owners, in the 
briskness of coiJiipetition, could not retain possession ; 



ERGONOMY. 367 

and since these same lands, in the course of events, 
have passed to other cultivators, they have become 
fruitful fields. Many landed proprietors, finding com- 
petition too strong, sell out to successful farmers, and 
resort to employments which are more suitable to their 
peculiar talents. The sluggish fall back upon poor 
soils ; the active make propitious soils teem with fer- 
tility. Freedom secures the greatest elaboration ; 
and the briskness of competition diffuses the greatest 
possible amount of nutritive substances over human 
society. 

The family being directed by a patriarch who must 
compete with others, elaborates the greatest possible 
amount. The patriarch is prompted to activity by 
interest, affection, and duty ; and the servant, from the 
direction of the patriarch, obtains more commodities 
than his own unassisted labor could procure. The 
skill of both parties, in their respective spheres, 
secures the greatest possible amount to the family. 
The patriarchal institution enables two races, who are 
separately inefficient, to convert a sandy soil into smil- 
ing plenty. Servants, by an unrestricted transferrence, 
pass to the best managers, and have constant employ- 
ment and sufficient food — circumstances which render 
them most efficient in their appropriate avocations. 

The division of labor, which gives scope to every 
variety of genius, affords the greatest possible ad- 
vantage to the whole society. Elaborators of different 
capacities have constant and appropriate employment. 

The Deity has established among men a diversity 
of intellectual endowments and tendencies, and every 
mind is most efficient when it is employed most in 



858 E R G N M Y. 

accordance with its natural dispositions and predilec- 
tions. Each elaborator has full scope for his favorite 
pursuits, and attains the greatest results with the 
least actual toil. Mutual advantage extends as far as 
humanity ; and the greater the disparity in elaborative 
genius, the greater is the advantage in unrestricted 
intercourse. Human interests are so delicately inter- 
woven with one another, that the necessaries and 
embellishments of life arise from blending the several 
talents and employments. Thousands, who are too fee- 
ble to obtain sustenance by the labors of the field, per- 
form domestic duties, superintend machinery, or direct 
operations which are of immense advantage to society. 
Man is so dovetailed in society that he cannot labor 
alone without inflicting injury upon his own family. 

Man, in society, obtains all available information, 
and then, like a burning-glass, condenses all the rays 
upon his favorite pursuit. The prismatic spectrum 
has a chemical, a calorific, and a colorific focus ; so 
human society, in the genius of its respective members, 
has a philosophic, an inventive, and a practical focus — 
an agricultural, a mechanical, and a commercial focus. 
Every part of industry is excited into its proper focus, 
and the genius of each member of society, by perfect 
freedom of pursuit, is brought into a maximum effi- 
ciency. The machinist turns his whole attention to 
the perfection of his specific art, while other laborers 
are providing his food and raiment in their appropriate 
employments. Society, by the particular pursuits of 
its members, obtains its splendid libraries, enchanting 
museums, and beautiful amusements. Livy spent twenty 
years in writing his history, which, in consequence, is 



E R G N M Y. 359 

characterized for precision, richness, and elegance. 
Intense sensibility for literary beauty is "ready to 
obey any invocation" and "to summon intellect and 
affection into any service promotive of human advance- 
ment." Society, from these embellishments, resembles 
" a beautiful landscape, divided into delightful gardens, 
green meadows, and fruitful fields." 

" In the civilized state, every faculty of man is ex- 
panded and exercised ; and the great chain of mutual 
dependence connects and embraces the several mem- 
bers of society." The comprehensive mind ranges 
over the whole empire of science ; and one such mind 
as Bacon's is enough for the whole human race. Men 
of commanding ability, though inferior to Bacon, have 
deduced from his labors inventions and discoveries for 
ameliorating and embellishing human life. The senti- 
ments, plans, and objects of science, are so harmonized 
that no disturbance occurs in.returning from the scenery 
of the heavens, to hold converse on humble ground 
among mortals, to work out the deep problem of active 
life, heroic passions, and noble achievements. Society 
is benefited by that enthusiasm which spends years in 
searching into the fructification of a moss or a mush- 
room, or examining into the natural history of a gnat 
or a spider. 

Mankind owe their most important advantages to 
men who have never quitted their closets. To them 
society is indebted for the mariner's compass, for the 
security of navigation, for the machines which toil for 
millions. Science, both chemical and mechanical, has 
been cultivated by farmers in the retiracy of their 
studies, and has become the palladium of agriculture 



860 ERGONOMY. 

in many places. Gypsum was introduced into America 
by Franklin, and its effects on vegetation were so 
signally efficacious as to give it a general introduction. 
Manning, the great American pomologist, gathered 
into his collection two thousand varieties of fruits, and 
his family sent to a public institution two hundred and 
forty varieties of the pear. Buel, in his last work, 
embodies, within a small compass, the results of his 
agricultural experience — a rich legacy to coming gene- 
rations. The palms of Egypt, which are agitated by 
the winds, were used by the French in drawing water 
out of the Nile. 

Cully, by agricultural experiments, superior intelli- 
gence, and unremitting industry, left a large estate to 
his family, and contributed to the welfare of the sur- 
rounding country. Dawson, by growing alternate 
crops of grain and roots, advanced the husbandry of 
the neighboring district, purchased a considerable 
estate, and left his family in affluence. Bakewell 
effected improvements in live stock, contributed large- 
ly to increase animal food, and opened a branch of 
farming as novel as it has proved lucrative. He 
procured sheep remarkable for early maturity, for 
paucity of necessary food, for the large proportion of 
the valuable parts. In rearing cattle, the English 
husbandman has attained a decided superiority, and 
the subject is exciting much attention in the United 
States. 

The lessons of science enable tne peasant to save 
fuel, to vary and improve his dish. The art of cookery 
has been improved, and substances have been applied 
to appropriate uses by enlightened minds. Chemistry 



ERGONOMY. 361 

has applied chrome, iodine, and platinum to the arts, 
and simplified bleaching, dyeing, and tanning. The 
conduction of the processes of art invigorates and 
enlarges the mind, and leads to original and independ- 
ent inquiries. The accomplished chemist who simpli- 
fied sugar refining, made a long' series of experiments, 
applied many chemical tests, and made some new dis- 
coveries. A German chemist, after diligent research, 
corrected an alkali in the madder bath; a French 
chemist, by the distillation of old materials, made a pulp 
for the sink manufactories ; and an English chemist, 
by correcting copperas with lime, converted a barren 
soil into a fruitful field. Liebig, by a concentration of 
his mental energies, has displayed a happy sagacity 
in tracing out the hitherto hidden operations of vege- 
table life, in exhibiting a practical demonstration of 
that comprehensive philosophy which views every 
accessible relation. 

Intentness of application makes discoveries, and 
applies them with precision to practical results. Men 
are prompted to invent easier methods of attaining an 
object to which their attention has been constantly 
directed. The saving of toil is a strong incentive to 
invention ; and many machines have been contrived or 
improved by common operatives. The inventor of the 
eclipse-speeder buried himself in solitude, tasked his 
mental faculties to the utmost, applied to every avail- 
able source of information, and directed his intellectual 
forces to the required point. Watt conveyed water 
over the Clyde, into Glasgow, through flexible pipes 
copied from the lobster's tail. Brunei protected the 
workmen in the tunnel of the Thames by a shield, the 

IG 



362 ERGONOMY. 

form of which was suggested by the head of an insignifi- 
cant insect. Smeaton, after anxious inquiry, found the 
best form for the Eddystone lighthouse in the oak, 
which was formed for resisting storms and tempests. 
Boys, to save exertions, sometimes take a directer road 
to solve a problem ; and a boy who was very fond of 
play, connected the wire with another part of the 
machinery so as to operate the valve of the steam 
engine without his care and assistance. 

The elder Pliny never travelled without books and 
an apparatus for making extracts. Biantes, king of 
Lydia, was excellent at filing needles ; ^ropus, king 
of Macedonia, spent his time in making lanterns ; and 
Harcatius, king of Parthia, was the best mole-catcher 
in the kingdom. Had they solely pursued their appro- 
priate employments, society would have received a 
great advantage. Nero, to preserve his voice, used 
to lie on his back with a thin plate on his stomach, 
took frequent emetics and cathartics, and, at last, 
transacted all business in writing. Suetonius informs 
us that the emperor played on the flute, and came in a 
triumphal procession through Italy, bearing the spoils 
which he had won in one thousand eight hundred 
musical contests. Had he been confined to music as 
a profession, the empire would have escaped many dis- 
tressing calamities. 

The weavers of Lyons, in their holyday leisure, are 
seen gathering flowers, grouping them into engaging 
combinations, and suggesting new designs which give 
rise to elegant patterns. A school of arts takes charge 
of every youth who shows an aptitude for drawing, or 
imitative design, applicable to manufactures. The 



ERGONOMl. 363 

school has a botanic garden, and devotes five years to 
the instruction of youth in anatomy, botany, architec- 
ture, and loom-pattern drawing. The school has col- 
lections of silk fabrics for study, and explains the 
mode of executing the several patterns, some of which 
reach far into antiquity. The manufacturer selects 
that boy who seems to have the best taste and inven- 
tion ; and the weaver descants on the merits of several 
hundred patterns, and seldom errs in predicting the 
success of any new style. The most eminent painters, 
sculptors, botanists, and florists, devote to these patterns 
" their happiest conceptions." Flower patterns, being 
copied from nature, are remarkably free from incon- 
gruities. The French supply taste to the civilized 
world, exporting one hundred and ten millions out of 
one hundred and forty millions to foreign countries. 
"Their fancy articles in iron and steel are exported 
in large quantities," " and their bronze figures have 
made their way into all parts of the world, alongside 
of their silk goods." 

Several occupations which are not a little disgustful 
by nature, become agreeable by habit. Nature some- 
times seems to forget its tenderness, and science has 
its martyrs. Science ameliorates the evils entailed 
upon humanity by sin, and " there must be a compen- 
sation to justice for this abridgment of its penalty." 
Humboldt looked down into the crater of a volcano ; and 
many of the votaries of science, like Pliny, venture too 
near to Vesuvius. Dixon's process of transfer was the 
result of patient and long continued research. Being 
a printer and a chemist, he sought for some substance 
which would exert an influence upon the ink so as to 



364 ERaONOMY. 

enable him to obtain a copy. After a long series of 
failures, impaired health, and pecuniary exhaustion, 
his efforts were crowned with the completest success. 
Mankind enjoy the advantages of steam navigation, as 
a reward for the long struggles of the laborious and 
persevering Fulton. 

As man improves by education, the greatest possible 
benefit accrues to society when each member attends 
to a particular pursuit. Appropriate exercise improves 
sensorial acuteness, manual dexterity, scientific inven- 
tion, philosophic discovery, and literary accomplish- 
ments. 

The senses of those persons whose business leads to 
nice exertions, become very acute. Touch becomes 
exquisite in men whose employments require them to 
examine polished bodies. The practice of attending to 
different fiavors, wonderfully improves the powers of 
distinguishing them a,nd of tracing their composition. 
Nothing is more improvable than an ear for music. 
Only the simplest compositions are first relished, then 
the finer melodies, then the intricate and compounded 
pleasures of harmony. They who deal in microscopic 
observations, or engrave upon precious stones, acquire 
surprising accuracy of sight in distinguishing the 
minutest objects. An eye for the beauties of paint- 
ing, is gradually formed by being conversant with the 
finest pictures. 

The sculptor who is gifted by nature, needs instruc- 
tion in the management of his chisel and in the ana- 
tomy of the human body. Painting was first performed 
in a uniform tint, then with various hues without 
shading, then according to life with light and shade. 



ERGO NO MY. 365 

The painting of fictile vases seems to have been prac- 
ticed by artists who received a peculiar instruction. 
Each workman in a manufactory, as he makes a similar 
operation his sole employment, acquires a skill and 
rapidity otherwise unattainable. This division, in some 
instances, increases the efficiency several hundred-fold. 
Human skill can perform a quantity and quality of 
work, which, to a casual observer, would seem to be 
utterly impossible. 

No practical man can be sure of success without 
science, which teaches him to conduct his operations 
by less expensive, circuitous, and ineffectual methods. 
Ingenuity is ever multiplying expedients to subdue 
refractory substances, and to transfer into useful 
agents the wildest and most stormy elements. To the 
philanthropic mind, the highest end of grand inventions 
is to supersede labor, which, through its beneficial par- 
tition, is in some departments almost reduced to the 
mental effort of superintending the mechanic powers 
which are pressed into human service. The more true 
science one possesses, the higher will he reach in the 
scale of perfection, and the better will he be qualified 
for the suggestion and accomplishment of noble and 
useful undertakings. Belgium and Tuscany, now so 
distinguished for agriculture, were once no less cele- 
brated for commerce. As Europe advanced in arts 
and civilization, commerce was almost exclusively con- 
fined to these two countries. When commerce fell into 
decay, agriculture proved a fortunate resource for in- 
dustry. The people transferred their capital and 
enterprise, and the union of energetic and methodical 
arrangement made them excellent agriculturists. 



366 ERGONOMY. 

The mind which is properly trained, always keeps a 
principle in view, and clears away the difficulties which 
always beset unexplored paths. A science is the com- 
pilation of the laws of the universe upon a single point ; 
and the progress of education is marked by the number 
of laws which it reveals, and the multiplicity of the 
relations which it unfolds. A mind trained to investi- 
gate these laws, achieves conquests, and removes 
countless infelicities. Those trains of thought which 
follow the order of premises and conclusions, are the 
most effective instruments in discovery. From Archim- 
edes to Gralileo, scarcely any discovery or invention 
appears. The same night which shrouded the genius 
of discovery, brooded over the talent of invention. 
Galileo applied discovery to art ; and the impulse of 
discovery and invention seem to be inseparable. So 
great is the power of education, that Chavius, who was 
noted for stupidity, became an expert mathematician. 

Sparta trained her citizens to one pursuit, allowing 
no preference for favorite occupations. Freedom in 
Athens produced models of poetry, of oratory, of the 
arts, which scarcely fall short of ideal excellence. 
Nothing is more conducive to happiness than the free 
exercise of the mind in congenial pursuits. Pericles 
remarked -that the Athenians, without submitting to 
the hardships of a Spartan education, rivaled the 
achievements of Spartan valor, and had their litera- 
ture and polite amusements as so much clear gain. 
Society, by freedom, acquires the command of know- 
ledge, refinement, and religious instruction — the true 
elements of happiness and prosperity. The habit of 
reading brings its own satisfaction ; and libraries are 



ERGONOMY. 367 

Stores of instjj^ction and amusement. The period of 
the revival of letters in Christendom, is, in many- 
respects, one of the most brilliant eras in human 
history. Mankind, in almost every quarter of Europe, 
woke up from profound sleep to adventurous activity. 

Men, in a free society, have a powerful stimulus and 
a heavy pressure to awaken the faculties, and to call 
forth exertions. " Ability and necessity," says Pythag- 
oras, " dwell near each other," and usually inhabit 
the same building. Activity of mind is excited to its 
highest point by competition with those engaged in the 
same pursuit. " By competition," says Clay, " the 
total amount of supply is increased," and it furnishes 
a maximum to society when it reigns unobstructed 
throughout the whole world. The laborer, in the 
keenness of competition, must "gather up the frag- 
ments." He must improve his elaborative facilities, 
or be superseded by those who labor under more favor- 
able auspices. He has the prospect of transferring his 
services to loftier pursuits, and he mounts up, laboring, 
during the whole series of ascent, to the maximum 
efficiency. New wants exhibit themselves in an ele- 
gant age ; and new occasions arise for the exercise of 
the strictest economy. The inventive powers, never 
growing weary, are aroused to the greatest possible 
activity. 

An unrestricted competition also diminishes con- 
sumption. Any indulgence granted by government to 
any particular pursuit, is not only prejudicial by the 
injury inflicted on others by taxation, but tends also 
to slacken mental energy, and to excite to extravagance 



ERGONOMY. 

in spending funds drawn from other employments. 
The laborer, in the freedom of competition, can only 
spend his own funds ; but, in monopolies, the favored 
individuals spend the funds exacted from others. 
Theophylact, the Patriarch, had in his stable at the 
same time above two thousand hunting horses, fed 
upon the richest dates, grapes, and figs steeped in 
wine. 

A maximum elaboration arises when government 
protects every family in the fruits of its own industry. 
The gradual enlargement and cultivation of the sense 
of property, " from its feeble force in the savage state 
to its full vigor and maturity among polished nations," 
constitute " a very instructive portion of the history of 
civil society." By obedience to the laws of property, 
man brings all his faculties into exercise, and is 
enabled to display his various and exalted powers. 
He makes investments, "casts his bread upon the 
waters," and awaits the return with patience and con- 
fidence. This leads out the mind to profitable and 
comprehensive adventures, and the whole country is 
benefited by a maximum improvement. 

Man, in the use of previous discoveries, elaborates 
to the greatest advantage. The application of motive 
powers, though in some cases suggested by artisans, 
has been perfected by philosophers. In man's earlier 
efibrts at architecture, the materials were perishable, 
the forms ungraceful, and the structures unstable. He 
improves in the art, erects buildings endless in variety, 
beautiful in finish, and suited to withstand the violence 
af time and the elements. The last fifty years are 



ERGONOMY. 369 

illustrious in the arts ; many new patents have been 
obtained, and beautiful models are suggesting new 
improvements. The votary of science, though he may 
never overtake the light of Newton or Franklin, can 
follow its path, and guide his footsteps by its illumi- 
nation. 

The Saracens, in the middle ages, cultivated astron- 
omy with several facilities. " The costly instruments 
of observation were supplied by the Caliph, and the 
land of the Chaldeans still afforded the same spacious 
level, the same unclouded horizon." Agricultural 
associations tend to promote social intercourse, to 
make farmers emulous of excelling in their crops and 
buildings, in the neatness and order of their domestic 
arrangements. Landseer, Woolette, Lowry, Byrne, 
and Heath, have carried the art of engraving to great 
perfection. Much of the labor consists in forming 
patterns ; and ornamental stove-plates, costing a year's 
exertion in executing the pattern, are cast in less than 
an hour. The engraver spends years in preparing a 
plate from which an impression, costing a few cents, is 
taken in less than a minute. 

As the hint which one proposes is carried to perfec- 
tion by another, the greatest possible achievements 
arise from association. Arkwright, who was conver- 
sant with machinery, was obliged to call in the assist- 
ance of others in completing his spinning apparatus. 
Wedgewood, who originated the manufacture of fine 
pottery in England, constantly employed a distin- 
guished chemist ; and the light of science which 
guided his successors, has diffused elegant wares into 

16* 



3T0 ERGONOMY. 

the humblest cottages. Each of the great dye-works 
in Alsace, so celebrated for beautiful and permanent 
colors, is superintended by a distinguished chemist. 
The French manufacturers generally keep a well-edu- 
cated chemist constantly experimenting upon colors, in 
a well-furnished laboratory. 

Davy was patronized by Beddoes and the Royal 
Society. The Duke of Bridgewater denied himself 
ordinary accommodations, sent an agent through the 
country to borrow money, and supported Brindley in 
executing his stupendous plans of internal improve- 
ments. Chemistry and mechanics, with the aid of 
Bolton, enabled Watt to invent an engine, which has 
almost changed the face of civilized countries. Watt 
was studious and reserved ; Bolton was affable and 
suited for bringing the invention into public notice. 
Watt never assisted in the construction of the first 
models, and only visited the factory once in a week. 
Nearly fifty thousand pounds were expended before 
his engines brought any returns. The remuneration 
was one third of the saving of fuel above that of the 
atmospheric engines, and the proprietors of three 
engines proposed, at last, to compound for two thou- 
sand four hundred pounds per annum. 

One does not elaborate that which he can buy with 
the fruits of less labor. The tailor does not make his 
own shoes, nor does the shoemaker make his own 
clothes. Each, by exchange, obtains a better article 
with less labor. Each laborer employs himself in some 
particular occupation, and receives from others the 
elaborations which he needs. The baker is furnished 



E R G N M Y. 371 

with music, which he could not elaborate at all, and the 
musician has better bread than he could make with his 
own hands. A certain artist confined himself to mez- 
zotinto engraving ; and one collection alone contains 
one thousand eight hundred of his engravings. 

Perfect justice, as well as freedom, causes human 
labor to flow out to a maximum efficiency. When the 
patentee receives his proper reward, the introduction 
of a new machine is so gradual as to allow less efficient 
machines to go gently out of use. When a philosopher 
receives a remuneration for his discovery, no sudden 
change ensues in old employments, or in the price of 
commodities. Time is allowed for the change of 
employments, so that great improvements operate 
softly, and every thing settles to its proper level 
without jolts or revulsions. As a manufacturer must 
pay a high price for a new effective machine, he can- 
not sell his elaborations so cheap as to jostle others 
suddenly out of the same pursuits. 



The preceding pages contain the amplifications which 
have arisen out of a single principle. Human labor, 
the only contemplated principle, constitutes a regular 
articulated system, each part of which displays the 
nicest connection and completest harmony. Wheels 
within wheels move with ceaseless activity, and the 
whole appea,rs like one great animated personage. 
Each elaborator only considers his own part, and the 
other parts are fitted to his actions. He is placed in 
the centre of a great web, each thread of which is con- 



372 ERGONOMY. 

nected with a thousand others. The involuted fabric 
is bound together by crossings and twistings, and 
exhibits elegant complexity in unbroken unity. This 
nicely-contrived system, by displaying the Divine wis- 
dom and benevolence, leads the devout mind to admire, 
obey, and adore. 



THE END 



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